


Undertale Fallen Determination: Book 2

by CobaltGemini



Series: Undertale Fallen Determination [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adult Chara, Cobalt Gemini, Fallen Determination, Family, Female Chara, Female Frisk, Friendship, Gen, Hurt / Comfort, Undertale AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:35:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 28,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26287312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CobaltGemini/pseuds/CobaltGemini
Summary: After Chara is freed from the Void, reunited with her friend,  Gaster, and gone through a Reset of time, she must now help guide young Frisk through the Underground, showing her to get by without harming anyone.(Female Adult Chara, Female Frisk)
Series: Undertale Fallen Determination [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1898614
Kudos: 6





	1. A New Beginning

“Hey, Wingding. Do you think we’ll ever make it to the surface?”  
“Where did this thought come from, all of sudden, Chara?”  
“Just curious. Everyone wants to escape the Underground, but... do you think we ever will?”  
“...You know, to be honest, I don’t know. But we have to try. ...You know, you could leave. Unlike the rest of us, you are human. Your soul is stronger.”  
“...You know what I would have to do to get through the Barrier.”  
“Yes, that is true... But if you had the chance, would you take it?”

* * *

Falling...  
I was falling...  
What was happening?  
Why was I falling?  
No... No, no, no, no, no!

_Slam!_

I hit the ground, and rolled over onto my back. I could see the caverns above me... They looked... familiar.

I was here before. That was the underside of the hole I fell into... such a long time ago. Why? Was this a dream?

It was, wasn’t it? Why this one? Why have a dream of this memory? It was such a bad one? This fall was why I became afraid of heights in the first place. Though... I did meet Asriel for the first time here. He found me and brought me to safety. But I was so afraid of him at the time... not to mention he was deceased now, souring the memory even further.

But as I laid there, I realized... I didn’t feel the same as back then. When I first fell, I broke a number to bones. I couldn’t walk, I could barely speak above a mumble. But now, I didn’t feel any of that. I still hurt from the fall, but it didn’t hurt as bad. Also, I didn’t feel... let’s say, proportionally correct in my body for the time. I felt like the adult I was, not the kid I was back then. And finally, I felt something soft below me.

I got up, and looked around me. There were gold flowers, buttercups, surrounding me. It was a small field, but it was enough to soften my fall, apparently. But... they weren’t here before.

I also realized that I felt like I was in my adult body, because, of course, I was in my current body, as an adult, not a kid. I mean, I didn’t look like an adult very much. Despite being 20 years old, I was short height, about 4 feet, 11 inches, so I looked like a twelve or thirteen year old. I had light brown hair which I kept short and straight (to try to look more mature), warm brown eyes, and I was wearing a green sweater with a yellow stripe, and brown cargo shorts with black tights under them, and brown boots with a fuzzy white top hem, and white puffs on the shoelace ends.

So... either this was a really weird dream, or... this was real. My memory was a little fuzzy. Was I really here? But, how... the Ruins were locked up. How could I have...

Then I remembered what happened. I was with that kid. Her name was... Frisk, yes. And she could turn time back... supposedly. Her Reset ability, and...

Wait... where was she?

I quickly spun around, trying to find her. It wasn’t hard... she was lying a few feet from me. And not moving.

My eyes went wide, and I ran over to her. Luckily, she was still breathing. I started attempting to shake her awake. She must’ve fallen alongside me, and was knocked unconscious.

After half a minute of shaking, she finally started moving. Her eyes opened, and she looked around, before her sight locked onto me. Then she quickly sat up, staring at me with a happy grin, and raising her hands, signed, _mommy! You came with me!_

I gave a small, unsure, but relieved smile, finding that she was okay. And of course, she still thought of me as her mother. ...Great. I just gave her a nod in response. Because I apparently looked like Frisk’s deceased mother, she considered me her new mother. But I wasn’t on board with that idea, though, but I really didn’t have a choice but to accept it for now.

Unfortunately for her, Frisk was mute. She had to use sign language to speak. Luckily, I knew how to use sign language myself, so I could communicate with her.

Frisk seemed to be about eight years old, the same age I was when I first fell here. She had short and messy dark brown hair, deep blue eyes, and was wearing a blue and purple-striped sweater and blue short-jeans, and had a purple backpack. Though to my surprise, she wasn’t wearing the pink tutu and ballet shoes she had before the Reset. Instead, she had brown sneakers on for footwear, similar to what I wore as a kid. I guess maybe she didn’t have those at this point.

Knowing that Frisk was okay, I took a moment to reflect on what happened. Two decades ago, my friend, Wingding Serif (a.k.a. Gaster) made the CORE, a massive generator created to open a rift in time and space in order to make a portal to the surface, and free the monsters. But the project failed, and the CORE overloaded. And after saving Wingding, I fell into the CORE, and ended up the Void, where nothing exists. Apparently, I completely ceased to exist, and no one I knew remembered me (except for Wingding).

But recently, Frisk found a way into the Void, and found me. After she left, I was able to escape back into the world. Then after that, I found Frisk, and then Wingding, and found out about Frisk’s ability to Reset, and that she had to kill monsters, each and every timeline. And this had left her in a state of regret, but she couldn’t find a different solution.

I had offered to come with Frisk in one of her Resets, so I could help her find the different solution, hurt no one, help her get home, and hopefully make this her last Reset.

That was easier said than done, but I was determined to complete this mission. I knew monsters better than anyone else, so I knew I could help her get past them all.

Frisk sat there staring at me, quiet. I almost forgot about her sign language, but was able to notice her signing. _Mommy, are you okay?_

I shook myself back into reality, and told her, both speaking and signing, “yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking.” I got up, and Frisk followed suit. “Let’s get going. If we are where I think we are, we’ve got a long way to go before we get to the closest town. Um, it’s Snowdin, I think.”

Frisk got a little nervous. _But the monsters..._

“We’ll get past them.” I started walking towards the nearby purple-stone gate that marked the proper entrance into what was known as the Ruins, motioning to Frisk to follow me. “I mean, nothing can surprise me. I know the Underground like the back of my hand.”

* * *

So... I wasn’t expecting the yellow flower with a smiling face. The two of us walked through the gate, to find this little buttercup flower waiting for us.

“Howdy! I’m Flowey. Flowey the Flower!” the flower spoke. So, he could talk as well. He was about to say something else, but then he looked straight at me, and his smile faltered a bit. “Uh...” he cleared his throat, “Hmm... you’re new to the Underground, aren’tcha? Golly, the two of you must be so confused. Someone ought to teach you how things work around here...”

Okay, this was very suspicious. First of all, of all the monsters I knew about, I knew talking flowers were not among them. And what he was saying, on top, right after faltering upon seeing me...

While he was talking, I turned to Frisk to see her looking scared at the sight of the flower. I knew she was terrified of the monsters, but he looked way too innocent for a kid not to trust. Then I realized that she had been turning time back, and had probably been through this multiple times. She knew what was going to happen.

My attention was pulled back to Flowey when he said, “...I guess little old me while have to do. Ready? Here we go!”

I felt a tug inside me, as my Soul was pulled out of my body. Looking Frisk, I could see that the same had happened to her. I knew what this meant.

Flowey looked surprised when he saw my Soul. For that, I didn’t blame him. After escaping the Void, my Soul was left scared. The edges of the crimson red heart that was my Soul had faded into grey, and grey cracks also covered the edges of my Soul. Frisk’s Soul, a brighter red heart than mine, also showed signs of fragility if you looked closely. I didn’t understand what that meant, but I knew what our shared color of red meant for both of us. We’re both had strong determination. It was our Soul trait.

Flowey again recomposed himself, continuing with, “see that heart? That is your Soul, the culmination of your being. Your Soul starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV. What’s ‘LV’ stand for? Why, LOVE, of course!” He leaned towards us. “You want some LOVE, don’t you? Don’t worry, I’ll share some with you!”

He gave us a wink, and a bunch of... seeds or something, popped out from behind him. “Down here, LOVE is shared through little white ‘friendliness pellets’.”

Frisk subtly stepped back. That was it. I knew something was wrong. A monster pulling out someone’s Soul meant they were starting a fight, as magic harms the Soul more then it can a physical body. And those seeds were magic attacks. Someone as well-practiced in magic as myself could see that much. And top of it all, Frisk obviously knew this too.

He was trying to trick us. Why? I didn’t know, but I was ready for it.

“Are you ready?” Flowey asked. “Go on! Try to get many as you can, you two!”

Frisk attempted to step out of the way, and dodge them altogether, but I stood my ground, and waved my hands around, channeling my magic, and creating crimson red flames. I pulled my hands close together, combining my flames into a fireball, then pushed it forward, the fireball splitting into smaller bullets of flame. With good control and accuracy, each flame bullet collided with one of the “friendliness pellets”, destroying them in small bursts.

“Woah, wh-what the-” Flowey stuttered in surprise. “H-hey buddy, you, uh, missed them...”

 _Really,_ I thought, _that’s what you’re calling this...? I literally just blew them up!_

More pellets appeared behind him, as he said, “let’s try again... okay?”

He sent the pellets forward, but I simply created another fireball, and did the same maneuver. Frisk, trusting I had this, didn’t even try to move out the way again, impressed with my counter-attack method.

Flowey was clearly getting mad, and his façade was breaking. “Is this a joke? Are you braindead? RUN. INTO. THE. BULLETS!” Then he quickly composed himself, and said, “I mean, ‘friendliness pellets’.”

More pellets came at us, faster this time, but I didn’t even attempt to make another fireball. This was too easy. I simply snapped my fingers, and several small explosions of my fire magic instantly destroyed them.

Flowey’s face lowered, then came back up, his face changing. The innocent smiley face was replaced with blacked eyes with white pupils, and a crooked mouth with sharp teeth. “...You know what’s going on here, don’t you?”

“Yeah, you’re not fooling us, you little devil,” I replied. “Why don’t you go away, and leave us to our business.”

Flowey chuckled. “You just wanted to see me suffer, didn’t you?”

Before I could respond, thorny vines shot out of the ground below me and Frisk, wrapping around the two of us, then pulling us both down into kneeling positions. I tried to summon fire to burn them away, but found that I couldn’t tap into my magic power.

“Wh-what!? How!? I can’t-” I tried to speak, but the vines started squeezing tighter. Did... did these vines have the ability to block magic?

Suddenly, a bunch of Flowey’s “bullets”, as he properly called them, appeared around the two of us, surrounding our Souls in two rings.

“DIE!” Flowey yelled, and then he started laughing as the rings of bullets started closing in on our Souls.

I could feel the power of magic around me. The bullets were fairly strong, and together they could do enough damage to severely harm my Soul. Frisk’s Soul, on the hand...

I struggled against the vines, trying to break free and access my magic, but they just became tighter in response. I couldn’t break free.

But then, a flash of light appeared, as a ring of orange flames spawned, burning away of the bullet seeds. I was confused. It wasn’t my flames. Those were red, and these were clearly orange.

Flowey seemed confused too, and didn’t notice the orange fireball that suddenly appeared next to him, only for him to look over to late, and it shot towards, and burst at the base of his stem, literally blowing him away, out of the ground, roots and all, and slamming into the nearby wall. I watched as Flowey then quickly dug into the ground, disappearing below.

“What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth...” spoke a new voice, a very feminine and motherly sounding voice.

A large goat monster approached, standing at about six feet tall. She had small horns and dark red eyes. She wore a long purple dress with white sleeves and an insignia on the front, which was a winged circle with three triangles underneath (two on the sides pointing up, one below the middle pointing down).

I recognized this monster immediately.

The vines had loosened, and me and Frisk were able finally to pull them off of us. I didn’t even need to use magic, which I didn’t, because I was too surprised.

As we did this, she took a good look at us, and smiled. “Ah, do not be afraid, my children. I am Toriel, the caretaker of Ruins. I pass through this place to see if anyone has fallen down here. You two are the first humans to come here in a very long time. Come, I will guide you through the catacombs.”

I smiled, and tried to hold back my tears. I even ignored the fact she just called a “child”, when I was, in fact, a 20-year-old adult. I thought I’d never see her again after she disappeared.

It was Toriel Dreemurr, my adoptive mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So after so long, we have the first chapter of the new book of Fallen Determination. I do my best to re-explain things as they become important. In fact, it's already happened in this chapter, by re-describing the characters and giving a summary of what's happened.
> 
> So hopefully it won't be necessary to read the previous book, but I would still recommend reading it anyway. At the very least, please read the first three chapters, and then read Chapter 21 to the end (though I should warn you, if you do read those last chapters without reading the others, you will be confused by the secondary plot points in those chapters).
> 
> Now, because I wanted to be accurate, I dusted off my old recording software (well, figuratively), and started a new run of Undertale, recording my playthrough, so I could look through the footage and accurately write in every line said in the game by the characters, word-for-word. Though they will be altered somewhat to fit the fact that there are two humans instead of one, and to help the writing flow better.
> 
> I think a good example of this is Flowey's stuttering after his first wave of friendliness pellets, when he surprised by Chara's magic, but is still trying to convince them to run into the friendliness pellets. Speaking of Flowey, I gave his abilities to set a small addition. As you probably know, in a later scene, he grabs everyone in a vine, and none of them try to break free, even those you would think would try. So I considered an explanation to this, came up with this. His vines now block the use of magic. This will be elaborated on further when we get to that scene, much later, but I figured this would be a good place to show it off.
> 
> Here are Chara, Frisk, and Gaster's OC Profiles, if you want to see them:  
> [Chara (Fallen Determination)](https://www.deviantart.com/cobalt-gemini/art/Chara-Fallen-Determination-793301592)  
> [Frisk (Fallen Determination)](https://www.deviantart.com/cobalt-gemini/art/Frisk-Fallen-Determination-793561283)  
> [Gaster (Fallen Determination)](https://www.deviantart.com/cobalt-gemini/art/Gaster-Fallen-Determination-850032241)


	2. Toriel

I was so happy to see my mom again, after so long. After I ran away, I heard Toriel had disappeared, just like I had. But I never knew where she disappeared to.

Had she been here the whole time? From what I’ve heard, the Ruins had been locked up, inaccessible from the outside. This could be why, unless something had changed in the two decades I have been gone. She must have been here the whole time, keeping people out. But why?

It didn’t matter right now. I was so overcome with joy, I just ran to Toriel, and wrapped my arms around her, and just hugged her as tightly as I could.

“Oh my!” Toriel said, startled.

“I’m happy to see you,” I replied, “I thought I’d never see you again.”

“Oh, well, I am happy to see you, too,” Toriel returned the gesture, then the two of us separated. “Though, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but where have we met before? I don’t seem to recognize you.”

I was shocked to hear this. “Wh-what!? You don’t recognize me? I-” Then I stopped and realized something. Wingding told me that after I fell into the CORE, everyone lost their memories of me. ...This would include Toriel. She wouldn’t remember that I was her child. I mean, her actual, adopted daughter, not some random kid she felt the need to take care of (even though I wasn’t a kid).

My head hung low when I realized this. “I’m sorry. I must’ve I mistook you for someone else,” I lied.

“Oh, sorry,” Toriel replied. “Though it is a bit surprising. I wouldn’t think a monster like me would remind anyone of a human. ...You are thinking of a human, right?”

“Oh, yes! Yes. Of course. Sorry,” I nodded in response. “So, m- miss Toriel, right?” I almost called her mom. It hurt not to, but the last thing I wanted to do was confuse her more.

“Yes, that is my name.”

“Yeah, so... I am Chara. And this...” I motioned to Frisk, “is Frisk.”

Frisk pointed to me, then signed, _she is my mommy!_

“Yes, it’s good to meet the both of you.” Toriel motioned deeper into the Ruins. “Now, please, come this way.”

Toriel walked through the next gate, and Frisk followed meekly. I quickly looked around to make sure Flowey wasn’t still around, and then followed catch up with the others.

We approached a large, purple-bricked structure that showed small signs of falling apart, but still stood strong. We were surrounded by three vine-covered walls around a small square courtyard, that was covered in red leaves, with a large pile in between two sets of stairs, which rose up to a balcony spanning the far back wall, where a door opening that was spanned by a pair of windows awaited. I looked up, basking in the shadow of the Ruins that loomed above us.

Toriel was waiting for me to catch up. Once she saw me, she signaled us to keep following, and walked through the doorway. Frisk wasn’t paying attention, though, and playing with the leaves.

I approached her, and said, “hey there. Enjoying yourself?”

Frisk turned to me and nodded.

“So, Frisk, did you know about Toriel this whole time?” I curious because I thought there was no way she would know about Toriel, but if this is where Frisk started, she’s probably seen and even met her multiple times.

Frisk nodded, but she seemed a bit worried. She signed, _do you like her?_

“Well, you see, she adopted me, so that makes her MY mother. But she doesn’t remember me anymore, so I... I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to hurt her.”

Frisk looked away, and signed, _she attacked me._

“What, why?” That didn’t make sense. Toriel was the kindest person I knew. She wouldn’t ever attack anyone. Then I realized something. “Frisk, you didn’t... you didn’t have to fight back, did you?”

Tears started welling in her eyes. _I did. But she was hurting me._

I closed my eyes. Okay, if there was anybody we were not going to harm in this time around, it was Toriel. I would not fight my mom.

I opened my eyes back up, and turned to Frisk, saying, “okay, enough standing around. Toriel is waiting.” I held out my hand to Frisk. “Don’t worry, we can trust her.”

Frisk nodded and smiled, and grabbed my hand. Then the two of us continued through the doorway, and found Toriel waiting for us, as I expected.

Toriel smiled and clasped her hands together. “Welcome to your new home, innocent ones. Allow me to educate you in the operation of the Ruins.”

In this small room, there was a set of six large buttons on the floor to step on, the two middle ones lower down in the formation then the others, and on the back wall, flanking another closed door, was a sign to the left, and a lever. Toriel walked over, stepped on the four switches not in the middle of the formation, then went over to flip the lever. Doing so caused the door to open up.

Toriel walked back to us and said, “The Ruins are full of puzzles. Ancient fusions between diversions and door keys. One must solve them to move from room to room. Please adjust yourself to the sight of them.”

I didn’t remember these very well the first time coming here. I was in so much pain, that I could barely keep my eyes open. I figured Asriel must have solved these from the other side prior to finding me.

As Toriel walked into the next room, I walked over to check the sign:

"Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones, both walk not the middle road."

Frisk patted my leg, and pointed to the door, basically asking to keep going. I nodded, and the two of us followed Toriel into the next room.

Once Toriel saw “To make progress here, you will need to trigger several switches. Do not worry, I have labeled the ones that need to flip.”

“Okay, then...” I guess she was trying to slowly get us used to puzzles.

The next room was long, leading off to the right. There were two waterways, with wooden bridges to cross over them. There was another sign on the wall that said, “Stay on the path.” And I could see the switches Toriel mentioned, more levers, and a few arrows drawn on the walls pointing them, and short messages by them.

Frisk and I ran across the first bridge, over to the first switch Toriel labeled and flipped it. I read the message, “Please press this switch. -TORIEL,” as Frisk flipped the switch. We then crossed the next bridge, where two levers awaited us, only one that was labeled by Toriel, with the message, “Please press this switch, too. -TORIEL.” I flipped this one.

Toriel, who waiting for us at the end of the room, was standing in front of a set of metal panels with spikes protruding from them. Once I hit the last switch, the spikes lowered below the panels, allowing them to be safely walked across.

“Splendid! I am proud of you, little ones,” Toriel exclaimed proudly.

“Okay, miss Toriel, can I tell you something,” I spoke up. “I happen to be 20 years old, and I don’t like people mentioning my height.”

“Oh, you looked so... young. Is Frisk also-“

“No, I believe she’s eight.”

Frisk nodded in response. So I was right.

“Oh. Well, I’m sorry, um... let us move to the next room,” Toriel replied awkwardly.

I felt kind of bad for that. She didn’t know better. But... I knew I would have to tell sooner or later.

Frisk and I followed her into the next room, where Toriel was standing next to a practice dummy, a simple head, and body on a wooden stand. “As a human living in the Underground, monsters may attack you,” Toriel told us.

 _Well, that’s why I’m here,_ I thought.

“You will need to be prepared for this situation,” she continued. “However, worry not! The process is simple. When you encounter a monster, you will enter a fight.”

_Okay, where are you going with this?_

“While you are in a fight, strike up a friendly conversation. Stall for time, and I will come to resolve the conflict.”

_All right, that doesn’t solve our problem. ...Though it does give me an idea._

“Please, practice talking to the dummy,” Toriel said. “Frisk, you first.”

Frisk didn’t move. She just started at the dummy. Then she turned to me and signed, _I can’t talk to him. Does signing count?_

“Um, what are you waiting for my child? It is only a dummy,” Toriel said.

“Wait, Toriel, do you know sign language. It’s the only way she can talk,” I replied.

“Wait, what? Why, is she too shy to speak?”

“No, um, she simply can’t speak. She’s mute. Sign language is the only way she can really... ‘say’ anything.”

“Oh... oh I’m sorry. ...I can see why the two of you are together.”

So, wait, did Toriel think we stuck together because we both had physical problems. I mean, yeah, we did. I was very short for my age, and Frisk was mute. Still... that was not the case.

Frisk signed, _tell her you’re my mommy, and that she’s your mommy._

 _Not right now,_ I signed back. “How about I talk to the dummy,” I told Toriel. Then I stepped up to the dummy.

It just stood there, absentmindedly. About as much as I expected.

So, what to say, what to say. “So... my dummy, you... have a cotton heart and a button eye. You... are the apple of my eye.”

...

It didn’t seem much for conversation. This was awkward.

Toriel was happy, though. “Ah, very good! You did very well. I suppose if Frisk can’t talk herself, you can talk for her, right?”

“Well, I appear to be the only one who knows sign language, so yeah, I can translate for her,” I replied.

“Well, if the two of you stick together as you have been, you’ll be fine,” Toriel told us.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m here for. Call it, adult supervision.”

“Oh, yes. Now, let’s continue.” Three of went on into the next room, another long room, with a smaller hallway to the right. “There is another puzzle in this room...” Toriel continued. “...I wonder if you can solve it?”

She continued on into the hallway. Frisk took a deep breath, and walked forward, with me in tow. We stepped into the hallway, which had a few turns, but was short.

...But that’s disregarding the small monster we ran into.

It was a frog monster, though it seemed to have a second face on its chest.

Frisk stepped behind me, scared. I figured it was time to test my idea. I turned to her and signed, _hey, there’s nothing to be scared. Here, let me tell you about this monster._

I took a good look at the monster, trying to remember what it was. When I figured it out, I signed to Frisk, _this is a Froggit. Life is difficult for this enemy. Why don’t trying signing with him? Remember, I’ll speak for you._

Frisk slowly stepped out from behind me, and took a few steps forward. I was waiting for her to open up, and speak with the enemy.

But she never got the chance. Toriel walked up from behind, and gave a sharp “ahem!” The Froggit turned to Toriel, who was glaring at him. Then he hung his head low, and scampered off.

“Toriel!” I snapped.

“What! I told you I’d resolve the conflict. I’m keeping you safe,” she replied defensively.

“Yeah, but Frisk-” I gave a sigh. “You know what, never mind.” It wasn’t worth fighting with my mom. I’d just try this again when Toriel wasn’t around.

Toriel led us to the end of the hallway, which led to a water-filled room, spanned by a wooden platform. ...Covered in more spike panels.

“This is the puzzle, but...” Toriel looked at the spike platform, then back at us. “Here, take my hands for a moment.”

So both me and Frisk each grabbed one of Toriel’s hand, and she started guiding us into the spike field. I didn’t know what she was doing, but I knew I should trust her.

But as we got close to certain spike panels, they retracted into the panels. I noticed some the spike panels didn’t retract, but the ones did, making a path safely to the other side.

Once we made it to the other side, I looked back, and wondered how we were supposed to find the solution. Were we supposed to take that slowly, and Toriel just knew the path through so well, she didn’t need to anymore. I felt like there must have been a sign or something I didn’t read back there. I think I did see one, but I was too annoyed by Toriel to think about looking at it.

“Puzzles seem a little too dangerous for now,” Toriel told us. She led us in the next room, by far the longest room so far, with only a pillar at the far end by the exit. “You have done excellently thus far, Frisk, Chara.” Toriel turned to the end of the hallway. “However... I have a difficult request to ask of you. ...I would like you to walk to the end of the room by yourself. Forgive me for this.”

Toriel quickly ran down the hallway, and... snuck around the pillar, hiding behind it.

“Okay...” I responded, and I looked Frisk, who simply shrugged.

I shrugged back, and the two of us started walking the hallway. I started whistling, and Frisk skipped along.

When we got the end, Toriel stepped out from behind the pillar. “Greetings, Frisk, Chara. Do not worry, I did not leave you.”

 _Right, you didn’t..._ I thought.

“I was merely behind this pillar the whole time.”

_I noticed._

“Thank you for trusting me. However, there was an important reason for this exercise. ...To test your independence.”

“Wait, hang on,” I interrupted. “I already told I’m an adult. What, do I still look too much like a kid to you. Also, what was that about us being fine if we stuck together?”

“I apologize, Chara, but despite your age, and help from your, um... sister?”

“No, not sister. She sees me as her mother, but we’re not related,” I informed her. Frisk gave a pouty face in response.

“Well, regardless, the Ruins are still very dangerous. Monsters and traps lurk around every corner. I must attend to business, and the two of you must stay alone for a while. Please remain here.” Then Toriel seemed to get an idea, and reach into her pockets. “I have an idea. I will you a cellphone. If you have a need for anything, just call. My number is on the back. Be good, alright?”

She pulled out said device, which was one of those really old cell phones, like the brick kind of phone, and handed it to me, then exited the room, leaving deeper into the Ruins.

I plopped down on the pillar, frustrated. What happened to her. Toriel had always been very kind and caring, but now she seemed overprotective.

Frisk signed, _What are we going to do?_

“I don’t know,” I replied in both sign and speech. “Maybe stay and rest for a bit. I don’t think anything will attack us here.”

_Are we going to leave?_

“Do you usually leave on your past runs, or do you wait for Toriel?”

Frisk pointed to the door. Okay, so she just leaves.

I sighed. “Let’s wait this time, Toriel will come back.” I held up the phone and looked at her number. The phone was very old fashioned, and like a brick.

I sighed. It was going to be a long wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So for this chapter, I decided to focus fully on the time you spend with Toriel at the beginning. From the start, to when she leaves you alone. Just figured it would be good to get this out of the way, and then start working on more important details of the story.


	3. On Our Own

Over the next few minutes, we sat there. Frisk had pulled out a notebook and crayons from her backpack, and began to draw and color. I just stared at Toriel’s phone, when I remembered something.

“What a second, I just remembered, I think,” I reached into my pocket and pulled... another cell phone. I didn’t think it was up to date, but it was much better than Toriel’s. “I can’t believe I forgot about this. Wingding gave me my own phone.” It wasn’t quite as big as the one Toriel gave, though it didn’t have much in of itself. It was just a simple flip phone. I could make calls, text, or save phone numbers. That was about it.

I looked at Frisk. “So how often do you use this phone?”

She signed back, _Toriel calls me, and I listen. But she asks me things, and I can’t answer back. She then thinks she got the wrong number and hangs up._

Geez, that’s got to be tough. She couldn’t even answer her back. Then I asked, “So, did Toriel ever figure out that you can’t speak in past timelines?”

Frisk shook her head.

“So this is the first time she figured it out. Well, better late than never.” I opened up my phone, and copied Toriel’s number into it, then handed Toriel’s phone to Frisk. “Let me know if she calls, and asks for anything.”

It only took a minute for Toriel to make the first call after that. Frisk answered, and listened, then hung up.

“Um, Frisk... what did she say?” I asked.

 _She just said we have to wait longer,_ Frisk signed. _About five minutes._

I just sighed and leaned on the pillar. The phone rang again a few minutes later. After Frisk listened in. She told me she called, mentioning something about dogs, and it would take a bit longer. I sighed again, and decided it was best to ignore the calls for now.

I decided to think on what had happened. I was happy that I found Toriel, but she has changed. She was more protective. Outside of the ruins, most of my friends were either deceased, or they have moved on. Well, one in particular, Hapstablook. Even Wingding didn’t where she went. But I was going to find her. Nothing would stop me.

But the ones who were gone, permanently... Semi, Wingding’s father. Pristina, Wingding’s wife and my best friend. The old Captain of the Royal Guard, Girard. Wingding’s assistants, especially Lizzie. I’d never see them again.

Apparently, Girard had kids, who were now living in Snowdin. That would be the first town outside the Ruins we would end up passing through, though still a bit far away. But once we got there, I would have to seek them out.

I also heard that Wingding had a son himself. Someone named Papyrus. I never got the chance to ask about to him... Who was he? What was he like?

We got a few more calls from Toriel, nothing Frisk felt the need to tell me about. After about a half an hour of this, I began to get worried.

After about the seventh or eighth call, I finally spoke up. “So, Frisk... That dog Toriel mentioned. What was that about?”

Frisk thought for a moment. _The dog took a flower from her._

 _Okay..._ I thought.

 _Then I think the dog... took her phone,_ she continued signing.

“The dog... took her... phone,” I said slowly. “HOW DID THE DOG MAKE THE CALLS THEN?”

Frisk got a startled look in her eyes, and stumbled away. I was confused by this until realized... I just yelled. Maybe I didn’t intend to. Definitely not fully directed at Frisk, but still...

“Hey, Frisk, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell.” I held my hand out to Frisk. She slowly came out of her shell, and gingerly grasped my hand. “It’s okay. Let’s forget the dog for now, and go find Toriel. Sounds like she might need help.”

Frisk let go to sign, _but wouldn’t we find the dog, too?_

I laughed at that. “Come on, Frisk. No more waiting around.”

Frisk nodded and ran off ahead of me. I breathed a sigh of relief. I fixed that problem. But I had to remember that in the future, to keep my voice low, and not scare Frisk with loud sounds.

The next room had to more entryways, one to the immediate left, and another down to the right of the room on the back wall. The floor was cover in more leaves, including a few large piles. Lighter stones seemed to make a path leading to the right entrance, but Frisk was already running into the left opening.

“Hey, Frisk, wait!” I called out (lower tone of voice this time), and chased after her.

The room she went into was small, flanked by pools of water on the sides. In the middle, sitting atop a alter... was a bowl of candy. At the base, it said, “take one”.

Frisk was reaching into the bowl, which was a bit high, for her, and managed to grab a piece of candy.

I walked up behind, and announced playfully, “You took a piece of candy.”

Frisk turned to look at me and silently giggled. I stepped to her side, and grabbed a piece for myself. The candies were taffy in twist wrappers, and looked pretty good. When I got mine, Frisk stepped back towards the bowl, ...and reached in, grabbing another piece.

 _Okay, I’ll play this game,_ I thought. “You took more candy.” Peeked in beside her head. “How disgusting...”

Frisk silently giggled again, and grabbed another piece.

 _Wow, you’re a glutton for punishment._ “You take another piece. You feel like the scum of the earth...”

Frisk reach for another, but she went too fast, and knocked the side of the bowl, causing the entire thing to fall onto the floor, candy spilling everywhere.

I laughed. “Now look at what you’ve done.”

Frisk stepped back, looking a little ashamed. But she held out her handed, and presented to the forth candy she managed to grab before it all came crashing down.

“Okay, let’s go,” I told Frisk, patting her on the back. She left the room, but I looked back at the mess. The candies were wrapped up, so they themselves wouldn’t be dirty...

I figured, just in case, I should grab a few more. This was probably monster food, which was made from magic, particularly healing magic, which meant it could fix both physical wounds and magic damage done to the Soul. So I scooped up a handful, and stuffed them into my pocket.

I followed Frisk back into the previous room, where I found Frisk... and another Froggit. And based on the fact her Soul was out, they were in a fight.

Frisk was trembling, as she just stared at the small monster in fear. But the Froggit just seemed a little confuses. But it was clearly ready for battle.

Considering Frisk’s past, I figured to would be best to intervene before anything bad happened. “Hey, hey, Frisk, you all right?”

Frisk pointed at the monster.

“Yeah, I know.” I remembered that I needed to show her how to handle monsters herself, without Toriel intervening. “Okay, let’s try this again, okay. You’re going to end this fight peacefully. So first’s things first, monsters do have a sense of honor. They’ll only attack after you make an action. So try to say something, or sign, I’ll translate, and be ready to dodge his attacks. You got that.”

Frisk nodded to me, be she still seemed unsure.

“Alright, so Froggits, they have a hard time in life, maybe make it feel good. Try complementing it.”

Frisk stepped up. She was still for a moment, but finally tried to give a big smile and signed, _you look very cute!_

I was happy with her, and was about to translate, but I noticed that the Froggit had raised an eyebrow (so to speak, since it didn’t have any), probably wondering her hand movements meant, but was blushing. So instead, I told Frisk, “The Froggit didn’t understand you said, but was flattered anyway.”

Froggit reared back a bit, and there was a flash in its eyes. Suddenly, a few flies appeared, and began to swarm at Frisk. They were small, and there were not very many, but I knew that this was his magic attack.

Since I was not part of the actual fight, I stepped back, but warned Frisk, “this is his attack! Dodge, dodge!”

Frisk tried to step aside as the flies slowly rushed her, but one managed to hit her Soul. Frisk winced in pain, but alright.

“Frisk, it’ll be okay,” I tried to comfort, “his magic isn’t very strong.” I noticed Froggit was stepping down a bit. “The Froggit seems reluctant to fight you. Frisk, now’s your chance. Tell it the fight is over.”

Frisk seemed to consider about how to convey this without words, then pointed away from the two of them, and then waved. I didn’t know it the Froggit would get that, and I was about to step in, but then he nodded, gave a croak, a hopped away.

I stepped in front of Frisk, and applauded her. “Good job. You just fought a monster without attacking him. No need to kill him. You’ve spared his life, essentially.”

 _And we will spare more of them?_ Frisk asked with a hopeful smile.

“Yeah,” I told her. “Remember, each monster is different. They’ll have different magic you’ll have to evade, and you’ll have to find different ways of... ‘sparing them’. Yeah, let’s stick with that phrase, ‘Sparing’. But don’t worry, I’ll be here to help you through it, and to show you how. Speaking of which, pull out one of your candies.”

Frisk reached into her backpack, where she apparently put her candies, and grabbed one. I did the same and grabbed one from my pocket.

“This is monster food,” I told her, “this can heal any wound, both physical and magical. Different kinds of food will heal different amounts, but a small amount of damage, like what you took, this will cover.”

Frisk nodded, then we both opened our candies, and popped them into our mouths. I could see the few cracks on Frisk’s Soul that were left by the Froggit’s attack began to mend until they were gone. Though I could still see of the fragility on her Soul. I revealed my own Soul, and I could see that my candy hadn’t done anything to the gray cracks in my Soul. I guess this was as strong as our Souls would get.

Frisk looked behind me, pointed in the direction, then signed, _do you know what that is?_

I looked and told her what I saw. “It’s a large pile of leaves.”

_No, the shining thing above it._

I took another look. “What shining thing...?”

But I tried to look closer, and I swear I saw something. It was faint, too faint to determine what it looked like. But something was there.

 _It’s this yellow star, I think,_ Frisk signed, _I feel like I want to touch it, but it’s scary._

I walked over and held my hand out, above whatever it was. I could feel something... reassuring and warm. Like I could feel my confidence strengthening. No wonder Frisk was so drawn to it. But why was she scared of it? I wished I could actually see it.

I turned to Frisk. “I can’t see it Frisk, but I think I can feel it. If you want to touch it, then did it.”

Frisk stepped up, and held out her hand. She seemed nervous, but she slowly reached out, until she stopped. Then she pulled back, and, with a smile, signed, _it made me feel warm and fuzzy._

“There you go, you’ve got to brave. Don’t back down.” I pulled Frisk’s Soul out again, and showed her mine. “Do you know what the red of our Souls mean?”

Frisk shook her head.

“The color of your Soul shows what trait you have. We both have red Souls, so that means we are determined. No matter what, we will never give up. Nothing will stop us from completing our goals. Remember this. Do not let fear control you. You must stay determined.”

Frisk looked to the ground. _My first mommy always said to find something to fill you with determination._

“‘Fill you with determination,’” I repeated. “I like that. Let’s find something to fill you up right now!”

Frisk looked around, and began playing with the leaves again. I joined in, and through a few at her. Soon we rolling around the piles. After we were done, I turned to Frisk, both of still lying in the pile, our energy still high, and told her, “Playfully crinkling through the leaves fills you with determination.”

Frisk smiled, and rolled over to grab my arm. It’s been such a long time since I’ve so much fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, for this chapter, I decided to establish many of Undertale's most common aspects, like being "filled with Determination", sparing monsters, and monster food (Items). I also established Frisk's fear of loud sounds.
> 
> Also, I had to do this, it was such a good idea (at least, to me). As you know, Froggit's don't understand what you say (though you, or at least, Chara, can understand them. And by that, I mean the NPC Froggits. Weird). But for this, since sign language will be used often, I thought it would be interesting if the Froggit simply didn't understand Frisk's sign language. Yeah, I know, not the MOST interesting thing, but I still thought it would be neat.
> 
> And... looking at the first three chapters I made, I feel things will be happening kind of fast. It's not easy trying to translate a game story into pure writing. But, I'll do my best.


	4. Breaking Floors and Rocks

After playing the leaves, we began traversing to the next into the next room. There were two large openings on the upper wall to the left, and between them, the floor was extremely cracked.

Frisk approached the cracked floor, and stopped by it. She then turned to me, and signed, _the floor breaks,_ pointed down, then pointed across

I nodded and carefully inspected the floor. If it broke and we would drop... I couldn’t even guess how far down. ...The thought scared me.

I starting to freeze up at the thought of falling, when I got a call on my phone. I backed up, and answered, taking the chance to take a breather while I heard the voice of Toriel finally picking up.

“Hello? Hello? This is Toriel. My apologies. A strange dog stole my phone,” she said. “So if you called, I could not have helped you. However, I have recovered it. And you are still in that room, are you not?”

“Yeah, sure...” I said, just getting the last few breaths out. “Just glad you’re okay. I got a bit worried.”

“Oh, thank you! You are very responsible. Now, there are few puzzles ahead that I have yet to explain. It would be dangerous to try to solve them yourself. Be good, alright?”

“Say, may I ask you something, Toriel?”

“Oh, yes, you may.”

“So... what brought you to the ruins? I just curious, but it seems rather lonely... Like, why are you here? ...Who are you?” I felt awkward asking the last question, since I already knew her, but I wanted to know what had changed, and didn’t want to bother her with the knowledge.

“Oh, so you want to know more about me? Well, I am afraid there is not much to say. I am just a silly little lady who worries too much!”

“Are you sure. There’s nothing I should know?”

“I don’t believe so...”

I felt a tug on my sweater, and looked down to see Frisk. “Excuse me a second,” I said into the phone, and put my attention to Frisk, “Yeah, did you want me to tell her something?”

Frisk nodded, and held up her hands.

Repeating what Frisk signed, I told Toriel, “You give me determination... you lovely thing...” I covered the phone speaker. “Frisk, what did ask me to say to her? What is...” Then I realized what it was. “Did you just make me flirt with her?”

Frisk just smiled at me.

“...Huh? Oh, heh... heh... Ha ha ha!” Toriel replied on the phone. “How adorable... I could pinch your cheek! You can certainly find better than an old woman like me.”

“No! No!” I quickly told her. “That wasn’t me! That was Frisk! Please don’t think I meant to say that, mom.”

“Huh? Did you just call me... ‘mom’? That’s... Why do I...” Toriel got quiet for a bit.

Should, I didn’t mean to call her that, I thought, she doesn’t remember me. It wouldn’t mean anything to her.

“Well... I suppose...” Toriel continued. “Would that make you happy? To call me... ‘mother’?”

“Y-yeah, sure,” I said. Well, that’s at least a weight off my shoulders.

“Well then, call me whatever you like! Goodbye, Chara. I’ll see you soon.” Then Toriel hung up.

I took a big sigh. “Okay, Frisk, I’m not mad, but can you tell you-”

I turned to find Frisk by the edge of the cracked floor. She seemed nervous standing next to it, but then she got that determined look of hers, and stepped back a bit.

“Hey, um, Frisk, what are you doing?” I asked, worried.

Without turning to answer, Frisk took a running leap... but didn’t get very far with her small legs. She landed on the cracked floor... and it broke below her.

“FRISK!” I cried out, as she fell below. I steeled my nerves, and ran over to look down the pit.

The good news was is that the pit wasn’t too deep, and Frisk was alight. She was just getting up and didn’t seem hurt. The bad news... a monster was down there.

A small bug-like monster that seemed a bit too nervous to fight themselves. Still, it approached Frisk to fight, albeit meekly.

“Frisk! Behind you!” I yelled down. Frisk turned around and saw the monster behind her. She stepped, scared herself. “Frisk, don’t be scared. It’s a Whimsun. They’re too sensitive to fight. Try... consoling it, make it feel better.”

Frisk looked up at me with a nervous look on her face, then nodded. She tried putting on the biggest smile she could, and attempted to give it a reassuring head pat.

But she couldn’t even do that, as the monster burst into tears, and ran away.

“Hey, Frisk, good job, ...I guess...” I said that last part beneath my breath. “Now, let’s see if we can find a way for you to get back up.”

Frisk looked at me again, nodded, and then ran into one of two doorways in the pit I didn’t notice before. Wondering where it was supposed to lead, suddenly I heard a shuffling from one the opening on the far wall. When I looked up, Frisk was climbing out of the opening, tumbling out on the other side of the pit.

“Oh... okay,” I responded. “So that’s how you get across.” I looked around. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to jump down there, even if it was the intended way across. Hm... “Hey, Frisk, step back a bit.”

Frisk nodded and took a few steps backward, while I prepared my magic. While learning magic under Gaster, I learned to use Blue Soul Magic, a type of magic you can cast on one’s Soul, enabling you to change the effects of gravity on them. You could make them lighter or heavier, or even change the direction of their gravitational pull. Making them fall sideways can be pretty fun.

Though I trick I use, that no one else ever had attempted, apparently, is using blue magic on myself. I focused, and my Soul popped, it’s red visage now glowing blue around the edges.

With the spell cast on myself, I lightened my gravity, made a running start, and effortlessly leaped across the pit, right next to Frisk.

Seeing this spectacle, Frisk clapped happily.

“Thank you, thank you,” I said, enjoying the small praise. “Now, Frisk, would you mind telling me why you had me flirt with my mom.”

 _My first mommy used to flirt with people,_ Frisk signed, _she always seemed to make a lot of friends doing it. Plus, it looked fun!_

“Um, well, that’s not... Ugh, you know what, we’ll talk about it later.” I had no idea on how to explain to her that flirting is intended to make more than simply make friends. Though, assuming no one had a problem with her muteness, she would have no trouble getting dates. “Now, please, don’t go on without me. I might not know everything you do.”

I mean, I knew Waterfall pretty well, and a bit of Snowdin and Hotland, but I didn’t know what has changed since then, and Frisk has been traveling through the Underground as a whole longer than I probably have. She clearly knew more than I did.

Frisk nodded in response, and then grabbed my handed, excitedly trying to get me to move on to the next room. I figured it was time to move on.

As we entered the next room, I got a call on my phone. “Hello,” I said as I answered the phone.

“Hello, this is Toriel,” she answered. “For no reason in particular... Which do you prefer? Cinnamon or butterscotch?”

Oh, I could guess the reason she was asking. In fact, I knew the recipe. But, to make sure Toriel didn’t know, I choose to keep quiet. “Hang on, let me ask Frisk.” I covered the speaker, and asked Frisk, “Frisk, cinnamon or butterscotch?”

Frisk raised her hands, then stopped. She signed, _I don’t know their signs._

“Oh, um, raise your left hand for cinnamon, right for butterscotch.”

Frisk thought about this, then raised both her hands.

“Okay,” I uncovered the speaker. “So, seems Frisk likes both. And I don’t have any problem with either of them as well.”

“Oh, okay. Yes, I understand. Thank you for being patient, by the way.” And then she hung up.

I felt a bit guilty after that last line. We left to try to find her, but she didn’t need help anymore. And we were still traveling through the Ruins. I mean, if I remembered correctly, there would be a house to pass through at the end of the Ruins. Toriel probably stayed there.

Still, I wondered if we should’ve gone back and waited for her? What would she do if she got back, and didn’t find us?

Frisk patted my leg, pulling me back into focus. “Oh, sorry Frisk. Uh... yeah, let’s keep going,” I decided. I was sure we’d run into her again.

This was another simple room. There was a rock on a darker colored path leading to a switch on the other end. A line of spikes separated us from the exit. And there was a sign on the wall. I walked to it, and it read, “Three out of four grey rocks recommend you push them”. Knowing the Underground, that probably meant more than it seemed. I bet there was something strange about these rocks.

While I read the sign, Frisk began to push the rock. She had a bit of difficulty, but she managed to push it onto the switch. I turned just in time for the switch to be pushed down, and the spikes to go down.

“Heh, good job, Frisk,” I told her, “let’s go!”

Frisk nodded and we entered the next room.

In the hallway leading up to the room, there was another hole on the upper wall. I had an idea what that meant, and I proved right in the next few seconds... More cracked floor, probably breaking into a lower room.

Nervous about falling, I asked Frisk, “s-so, how do you get past this, Frisk?”

Frisk looked at the floor, and then signed, _please don’t step on the leaves._

“What leaves?” I asked. Then I thought, _wait, maybe...?_

I felt out my hand, and summoned a few fireballs. I sent them towards the floor. I didn’t summon enough to destroy the whole floor, only enough to test it. Parts of the floor broke open, but others remained solid, despite their cracked appearance.

I gulped and looked through one of the holes. There were piles of leaves down there, arranged to make a clear path... and they seemed to be.

“So, some parts of the floor won’t break. The parts that do, you’ll land on leaves. And you ‘don’t want to step on the leaves’, right?”

Frisk nodded.

“Okay.” I looked back down, and studied the clear path. “I think I got it.”

I grabbed Frisk’s hand, and attempted to guide both of us across the strong floor. We reached a pile of leaves on the upper level, and above it, read a sign that said, “Didn’t you read the sign downstairs?”. I guess what Frisk told me was the sign below, and this was referring to that.

So, of course, Frisk jumped into the pile for a few seconds.

“Geez, Frisk, don’t you know how to listen to signs?” I joked.

We reached the other end of room, and made our way into the next room. There was a body of water with a spike-covered bridge spanning. There were three more rocks adjacent to switches.

Frisk ran up to the rock on the left, and followed suit, approaching the middle rock. “Together,” I told Frisk, and we pushed the two rocks onto their switches.

The spikes didn’t go down, so I figured we needed all three switches. “Okay, let’s get the last rock then-” I said, reaching for the last rock. But as I barely tapped it with my finger...

“WHOA there, pardner!” a cowboy voice emanated from the rock. “Who said you could push me around!?”

“Oh, GEEZ!” I jumped back. “A talking rock? I ...oh, that’s what the sign meant...”

“Sign...?”

“Yeah, the one saying only three rocks like being pushed. Sorry, but we need to move you. Could you help us?”

“Hmm? ...So you’re ASKIN’ me to move over?”

Frisk and I nodded.

“Okay, just for you, pumpkins.” The rock moved over... just a foot or two.

“Uh, a little more,” I replied.

“Hmm? You want me to move some more? Alrighty, how’s this?” And the rock moved... in the wrong direction.

“Um, wrong way. You need you on the switch,” I told them.

Frisk pointed to the rock, and then the switch.

“Hmm? That was the wrong direction? ...Okay, think I got it.” And finally, he moved to the switch, and the spikes lowered.

“Thank you,” I replied. And Frisk and I walked to the bridge. But then I heard a click, and I realized... “Wait... Watch out!” I stopped Frisk as the spikes popped back out, almost skewering us. I turned to the rock, who had moved off the switch, yelling, “ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US!?”

“Hmm? You wanted me to STAY there!? You’re giving me a real workout.” And moved back on the switch.

 _Giving YOU a workout! REALLY!_ I thought, as I grabbed Frisk’s hand, and dashing across the bridge, before he could let spikes back up.

We reached the other side, entered the next room, and finally stopped. I turned to Frisk, and said, “I’m sorry, Frisk. I didn’t mean to-”

I thought Frisk would’ve been crying or something, but instead, she was smiling.

“You okay?”

She nodded. But then she looked behind me, and pointed to something.

I turned around to find a table with cheese on it. I got up to inspect it. Frisk ran to the other side, really excited.

After inspecting the cheese, I told her, “this cheese has been here quite a long time. It’s stuck to the table...”

Frisk ran to a small, tiny hole in the opposite wall. She crouched by it, and I heard a small squeak come from it.

I chuckled. “Knowing the mouse might one day leave its hole and get the cheese... It fills you with determination!”

Frisk jumped up, and ran behind me, tapping the air. I suppose it was another star, but I couldn’t see it.

“Okay, let’s keep going,” I told her. We continued into the next room.

In it, there was simply a leaf-covered path into another room, and in our way was what appeared to be a ghost, one of those bed-sheet-costume type ghosts, with two simple eyes.

And I recognized this monster...

“Napstablook?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter after the initial three to start with. Now the duo has left to really start their adventure. Toriel seems alright, but Chara still decided to continue on, and runs into a few shenanigans along the way.


	5. Ghost Fight

“Napstablook?”

This ghost monster was laying in the leaf-covered path, blocking our way.

It seemed like he might’ve been sleeping... snoring, even, but paying closer attention, he just seemed to be repeating “Z” very softly. Then, in between the Zs, I heard him mutter, “Are they gone yet?”.

I remember him, Blooky. He was always kind of... down. Not in a really bad way. He just was never really was comfortable around people. At least, those he knew. At worst, he didn’t have a much sense of humor.

Still, I knew him. He was a friend of mine. I was close friends with his cousin, Hapstablook, or Hapi, as I called her. But I often spoke with Blooky from time to time. I even went on a date with him once, but we realized that we were better friends.

Overwhelmed with joy, seeing an old friend again, right after seeing my mom, I just had to reconnect with him.

But... would he remember me?

Well, I might as well try to remind him... I guess. I mean, I couldn’t remain forgotten, right?

“Hey, um, Blooky? Napstablook!? Are you awake?” I called out to him.

I heard a groan from him as he rose up and faced us. Then I felt a pull in my chest as our Souls popped out, and we began the battle.

“Well, here comes Napstablook,” I muttered.

Frisk seemed a little freaked out, though it didn’t seem as bad as before. Maybe she was more comfortable around him. I wasn’t sure...

Frisk stepped up, and gave a quick little to me. I gave her a small smile and nodded. She nodded back, and gave Napstablook a patient smile herself.

“heh...” he replied quietly. Following that, he began his attack. He... literally cried to us. His tears stormed us. I was able to dodge them, but Frisk got nicked a few times. Not too damaging, but I could see her wince.

“So, hey, Blooky, I know you’re not good with jokes...” I started.

“oh, but i’m REAL funny,” he replied.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to... Anyways, do you want to hear a joke?”

He just stayed quiet.

“Well... What is a ghost’s favorite rides at a fair?”

“i don’t know...”

“They love the roller-ghosters!” I told him.

I wasn’t expecting much, but he went, “heh, heh...”, while Frisk silently chuckled.

 _Well, we’re making some headway,_ I thought. This small cheering up session seemed to improve Napstablook’s mood. I’ve been friends with him for a long time. I knew him well enough to cheer him up.

He went onto his second attack. This time the tears seemed a little... squiggly. I didn’t know what this meant, but as we dodged them, I barely noticed they began to come back around on the sides and upfront again. I didn’t know he learned a new move, so this caught me off guard, and I got snagged by these. But Frisk seemed to be okay, though I really couldn’t pay attention to her.

Frisk shook off this second attack, and then seemed to contemplate her next move. I gave her a nod and signed to her to just make them happy. So Frisk thought about this, and then... gave the ghost a wink.

...For someone who had trouble with getting past monsters without fighting them, now that I tried convincing her to try another method, now she was flirting with them? Okay...

“...oh, i’d just weigh you down.” Napstablook shifted around. I expected another attack, but instead, “I’m really not feeling up to it right now. sorry.”

“Hey,” I spoke up. “You’re doing alright, Blooky. You’re a great friend. I... missed you.”

Napstablook seemed to perk up after I said that, and replied, “can i show you something?”

“Sure!” I replied. Frisk gave a thumbs up.

“let me try...” He started using his tear magic again, but this time, the tears flew up, and began to form on top of his head. Now, Napstablook donned a white top hat. “i call it ‘dapper blook’. do you like it...?”

Frisk began clapping at his new look, genuinely enjoying this moment. I simply said, “you're looking good, Blooky!”

“oh gee...” he dropped a few more tears, but these seemed like just regular, genuine tears. “i usually come to the ruins because there’s nobody around... but today I met somebody nice... uh...” he seemed to trail off.

“Are you okay?” I asked him.

“have... have we met before?”

I should’ve known, of course, the void erased his memory of me. I just put some hope on nothing.

“Sorry, um, well, this is awkward.” I didn’t know how to get myself out of this one.

Napstablook looked over to Frisk. “actually... i think that maybe, i have seen you before?”

This took me by surprise. Was he just saying this to make me happy? Maybe, but that wasn’t like him. He was nice, but very passive with how he interacted with people.

I decided to dig deeper. “So... just curious, but where do you think?”

Napstablook pondered this for a moment. “i remember... i think you hung out a lot with my cousin.”

“Yeah, I did,” I replied. “Anything else I did?”

“um, there was my cousin, and... i think there was another girl. pristina... that was her name. and then... you, um, i think we, went on date. yeah, that did happen, but we decided to be friends, right... chara?”

I almost burst into tears. “You remember me!” I ran up, and, using my blue magic so I could touch him (otherwise, any physical interaction would pass right through a ghost monster like him), and gave him a big hug. “It’s so good to see you, Blooky!”

“oh, i’m sorry I forgot you...”

“It’s not your fault. Really. I know it sounds strange but... you know what, I’m just happy that we’re still friends even after all this time.”

“i’m happy too...” Napstablook looked off to the side. “oh, i’m in your way, aren’t i. i guess I’ll be going now.” And then he disappeared.

Frisk walked up by me. _You knew him?_ she signed.

“Yeah,” I replied. “We were friends... before I fell into the Void. I thought no one was supposed to remember me but...” I looked at Frisk. “It was a gamble really, but when he seemed to recognize me... I thought maybe... I could remind him.”

 _So, he didn’t forget you?_ Frisk seemed confused.

“Kind of, I guess, but that’s not really it...” I pondered this for a moment, “I think, maybe now that I am back, I can maybe... restore time back to what it was when from before I fell. I could restore their memories.”

I took a deep breath. “This good. They don’t know me now... but I could restore their memories... I could help them remember me. I could... help mom remember me.”

This is when I knew, I could save my mom, in a different sense of the word. “Come on, Frisk, we need to find Toriel.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now I've set up that Chara could restore her friend's memories, by reminding them of her. Very simple, not too complicated, or very creative. But it works.
> 
> As for the fight itself, I did my best to recreate the actual fight, while giving interactions on Chara's and Frisk's side with proper dialogue. It's a very short battle (at least when I played it for reference). As for that ghost joke... I found it online. Honestly, I'm not THAT clever.


	6. Spider Goods and Ribbon

Moving on, there were two different doorways we could go through. There was a path to the right, and one straight forward. I tried to remember which way Asriel took me when we first met. However, Frisk started pulling me to the forward path.

“Okay, okay, I’m coming.”

The room she led me in was a dead end, though there was a sign, and a couple of spider webs with papers stuck in them. I walked up to the sign and read, “Spider Bake Sale. All proceeds go to real spiders.”

 _Spider goods, huh?_ I thought. I remembered that little spider girl that I met when I was younger. As creepy as it was, they’d cook the tiny spiders into their goods. The little buggers would bravely jump on in. At least there were countless numbers of them.

“So, did you want to get something?” I asked Frisk.

 _I like the donuts,_ Frisk signed.

“Do... you know what’s in them?”

She nodded her head. _I try not to think about it._

I shrugged. Probably for the best that she didn’t know what was in them. Most people probably wouldn’t want to eat actual spiders. At least the idea that it was made by spiders didn’t bother her.

I checked my pockets, and found that my coin bag was still there. I guess it hadn’t been lost it since falling into the Void. Looking inside, I still had all my gold from before. I didn’t remember exactly how much was in there, but it had to be about a few hundred (they were small coins).

With that in mind, I decided to buy to donuts, one for Frisk and one for me, and a bottle of Spider Cider for myself. 7 G per donut, 18 for the cider, about 32 G in total. Nothing too terrible.

Since the room was a dead end, we headed back and went around through the other door. The next room was quite a long one, with some Froggits hopping around, hanging out. A sign was set up. I read it and it said, “Did you miss it? Spider Bakesale down and to the right. Come east food made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders!”

I looked over to Frisk, who had walked past, and was enjoying her donut. Did she already know? She had to have seen this sign in the previous timelines, right?

Frisk was minding her own business, so I watched as she tried to communicate with the Froggits, who were remaining passive to her.

Then I got a call on Toriel’s phone. Answering, I heard said goat monster speak. “Hello? I just realized that it has been a while since I have cleaned up. I was not expecting to have company so soon.”

“Okay. When was the last time you had company?” I asked.

“Oh... It’s been... a few months, I think,” she replied. Something about that sounded off, but I wasn’t sure. It’s not like I knew what she was doing since she disappeared.

“Anyways,” Toriel continued, “There are probably a lot of things lying about here and there. You can pick them up, but do not carry more than you need. Someday you might see something you really like. You will want to leave room in your pockets for that.”

“Um, thank you. I’ll be sure to tell Frisk that.”

I heard the hang-up sound, and put the phone away, looking up at Frisk, only to find that she had engaged some monsters.

She had apparently wandered to the other end of the room, and a couple of monsters had come through, and began to attack her. Frisk was backing up, trying to defend herself, and she was holding a stick, lifting it up...

“Woah!” I ran over and stopped Frisk from swinging it down. “Frisk, calm down.”

Frisk looked up. She had a frightened look on her face. These enemies must face caught her off guard, and she didn’t know what to do.

“It’s okay...” I told her calmly. Clearly this was not a good time to deal with some monsters. I turned to them, and asked, “hey, would you mind letting us by. We don’t want to fight.”

One of the monsters, responded, unwavering, “FILTHY SINGLE MINDER...”

The one that spoke was another bug monster, though it didn’t have wings, a bit larger, and definitely not part ghost. It’s mandibled face looked pretty mean. A Migsop. And it had a friend, a lime-gelatin monster that I knew to be a Moldsmal.

I was really annoyed by this. I get that they wanted a fight, but why? What did we do to get on their bad side? As far as I knew, Frisk was minding her own business, and I was on the phone. Maybe Frisk threatening to attack them didn’t help things, but I’m sure she didn’t start it.

To make matters worse, they were blocking the exit out. So they weren’t giving us a choice.

Moldsmal gave out a squishing sound, and the Migsop just glared at us.

I took this time to check the monsters. Frisk looked at me expectantly, unsure of what to do. I sighed.

 _Okay, Frisk,_ I signed to her, _that gelatin monster is a Moldsmal. It’s... stereotypical: Curvaceously attractive, but it doesn’t have a whole of brain cells..._

Frisk giggled at that. Good, glad I could relieve the tension a bit for her.

 _And that bug monster, that’s a Migsop,_ I continued. _It seems evil, but..._ I took a closer look, and made a guess on what was going with them. These monsters weren’t normally violent... _It’s probably just with the wrong crowd... I think._

“HEED THE SWARM,” the Migsop called out. I stood in front of Frisk, as I knew they were getting impatient.

Their attacks began. A bunch of locus-like projectiles swarmed at are sides. They weren’t coming to the middle, but I could see that it would limit are movement for the Moldsmal’s attack. The gelatin monster send a bunch of simple projectiles at us, which then split into serval smaller shots going out in a circle from their origin point. Easy enough to dodge, and Frisk followed my steps.

Moldsmal then did a little wiggle. This caught Frisk’s attention, which made her smile, and then she began to wiggle her hips. Moldsmal wiggled some more in response.

While they were this, I turned to the Migsop. “Hey, so, um-”

“I DON’T CARE!” the monster interrupted.

 _Okay, rude,_ I thought.

Once Frisk and the Moldsmal were done, Frisk clapped excitedly, and the gelatin monster bowed, and gleefully hopped off.

Now by himself, the Migsop looked to his left, then his right. Then, a smile appeared on his face. “Swing your arms, baby!”

Without a care in the world, the bug monster, began to happily dance, doing the wave with its arms.

“Nothin’ like alone time!”

Well, it wasn’t completely alone. But were happy to wave good bye, and slip past him, on into the next room.

 _I knew something had to be up with him,_ I thought. I guess Frisk was the MVP here. She gave the Moldsmal reason to move on happily, and coincidentally gave the Migsop the time alone it needed.

In the next room, there were six points that were cracked, and some more escape holes on the wall. There was a sign to our left that said, “There is just one switch.”

 _Okay,_ I thought, _so these points on the floor must break, and in one of the holes, is the switch._

Looking at the other side of the room there indeed were spikes baring our way.

Frisk had already made her way to one of the potential holes, and started poking at it.

“Hey, Frisk, be careful, you don’t want to fall down again,” I told her.

She turned and signed, _something’s down there._

“Yeah, I read the sign.” I put my hand on my chin as I thought about what to do. “Okay, I’m going to open on the hole, and I’ll use my magic to levitate you down. Step back, please.”

Frisk stepped away as I caused a small fire burst, breaking open the hole.

“Alright, now, hang on.” I channeled my blue magic into Frisk, and lifted her off the ground. It was hard to see the cracks in her Soul, since they were faint. But I knew they were there, and the idea disturbed me.

Taking a deep breath, I carefully lowered Frisk into the hole.

I leaned over the hole to make sure Frisk was set on the ground safely, and called down, “Okay, what to you see down there?”

Frisk looked around. It was just a brick room with another pile of leaves and an exit. Eventually, Frisk found something. She walked over to what appeared to be carrot or something in the ground, and tried to pull it out.

“Wait, Frisk!” I called out, but it was too late. As she pulled it out, it rose out of the ground, revealing itself to be a monster.

This thing was a carrot-like monster, with a pretty scary face on it.

“Frisk, it’s a Vegetoid!”

Frisk looked up at me, and made a hand sign, the tips of thumb and fingers touching together, and tapping her mouth. The sign for “eat” or “food”.

I laughed. “No, Frisk, you shouldn’t eat. It’s serving size IS one monster, ...but you’re not a monster.”

Frisk did her silent giggle, as the monster began her attack. Frisk caught on to this, and began attempting to evade the oncoming vegetable projectiles. One or two snagged her, but she did well. I didn’t even need to call out.

 _You’re catching on, kid,_ I thought. _Still, you need to know what to do next..._

“Frisk, pat your stomach,” I informed her.

Frisk did so, and the Vegetoid smiled. “Eat your greens”.

The monster unleashed another wave of vegetables, but this time there was a glowing green one among them.

“Frisk! Grab that green one! It’s healing magic!” I called down.

Weaved into between the veggies, and grabbed the green one. With a disgusted expression, she bit into it, and the entire thing was absorbed into her body, healing the wounds she just got.

The monster smiled happily, and then hopped away. Frisk dusted herself off, and followed it out of the exit. When she climbed out of the hole on the wall, she walked over with an unhappy look.

 _That was gross,_ she rapidly signed. _Never make me eat vegetables again!_

 _Yep,_ I thought, _she’s a kid. Of course she hates veggies._

I gave a smug look and said, “no promises.”

Frisk pouted, but I just patted her back. “Come on, we’ve got more holes to check.”

We spent the next fifteen minutes checking the remainder of the holes. We had to fight some more Vegetoids, much to Frisk’s dismay, as she had to eat more of the magic veggies to please them. Eventually, she finally found the switch. Once she pulled it, the spikes lowered.

While Frisk was climbing out of the escape hole, I decided to check the last hole out of curiosity. Breaking open the hole, I looked down, and found my ghostly friend.

“Blooky, what are you doing down there?” I asked him.

“i fell down a hole... now i can't get up...” he replied, “go on without me...”

“Really, a ghost fell down?”

“wait, ghosts can fly, can’t they... oh, well...”

As he began to disappear, I quickly called out, “hey, wait!”

He solidified back up. “yeah?”

“I... want to thank you... for remembering me.”

“oh... you’re welcome... i guess...”

...

“this is akward... i should go...”

As he vanished, I couldn’t help but smile.

Suddenly, I felt a tug on my shirt. I looked down to find Frisk.

“Oh, hey. So... sorry about the veggies, but later, to make it up to you, I’ll make this excellent pie recipe I know-“

Frisk timidly held something up to me. It was a red ribbon, though it seemed old, as it’s color had faded over time.

“Oh... where did you find this?” I asked her.

Frisk pointed over to one of the holes in the corner.

“I see... Did you want me to put this in your hair?”

She nodded.

I smiled, turned Frisk to the side, and began tying the ribbon into her hair. “There, you look great!”

She smiled.

“Okay, now do a spin.”

She happily spun around in a circle, showing off her new hair accessory.

I chuckled. “If you’re cuter, monsters won’t hit you as hard. And girl, you are cute!”

Frisk jumped up, and hugged me.

When she was done and backed away, I took a closer look at the ribbon I put in her hair. I got an odd feeling looking at, like a feeling of sadness. But I didn’t know why... I didn’t even recognize the ribbon, I was sure of it...

Frisk tapped my side and signed, _mommy, are you okay?_

I shook myself out of my trance. “Sorry, just... something was bothering me. But it’s no big deal, so don’t worry about it.”

Frisk nodded and began to walk towards the exit.

As I began to follow her, I continued to stare at her ribbon. It did look nice in Frisk’s hair, but I felt like I should’ve known who it used to belong to.

But, why...?

* * *

In the dark corners of the Underground, a figure stood alone in the shadows. Lost in thought, ...until their eyes soon shot open. “I see...”

As they began to leave, returning to their “home”, they began to muse over something. “I know this person. Yes... Chara... Chara Dreemurr... I remember.”

From their cloak, they pulled out their arm and summoned a long, bladed weapon. “I remember you... And soon, we will meet. At long last.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chara and Frisk continue their journey through the Ruins. They got their goods from the spiders, and Frisk found the Faded Ribbon.
> 
> Yes, I chose to ignore the Froggits in the room after Napstablook. I was honestly planning to include them, but as I was writing the chapter, I couldn't think of a way to include them. In the game, they are tutorials for basic mechanics in the game, both primary (the Mercy mechanic) and secondary (skipping text, and entering full screen). Since I'm not really writing like that, since I'm not breaking the fourth wall, and I'm trying to write it more naturally, I couldn't find a way to make it work, so I chose to just mention them in passing. Kind of a shame, I wanted to add the Switch's version of the tiny Froggit line, but I couldn't fit it in (maybe I'll try later at a potentially more fitting time).
> 
> Also, mystery character at the end! While they have been planned for later, adding a tease to them was a spur of the moment thing. Does it seem out of place? Maybe. Or is it?


	7. Reaching the Ruin's End

It didn’t take more than half-a-minute before we met another monster.

 _A Loox,_ I thought. A short monster with a pair of horns, a single large eye, and a sharp-toothed mouth.

Frisk hid behind me. I couldn’t blame her. This was one of the more intimidating types of monsters... though not by much.

 _Frisk,_ I signed, _you reading me?_

 _Yes,_ Frisk replied back.

_I know he looks scary. But because of that, others pick on them, and they tend to become bullies in spite. Let’s not let that happen to this one._

Frisk nodded.

 _Okay. Oh, and do you want to know something amusing. These monsters have the same last name._ I leaned towards her. _That name..._ I pointed to my eyes, and then held my hands flat and made shuffling motions, is if walking, while I whispered, “Eyewalker”.

Frisk snickered, but the Looxs seemed to take offense to this. “Hey, please don’t pick on me!” he pleaded angrily.

He sent out a bunch of clear orbs at us, with smaller ones trailing behind them. I held Frisk close, as I helped us swerve between the magic projectiles.

“Hey, hey, hey,” I called out, “I don’t want to pick on you.”

Frisk nodded. Her hands were shaky, but she mentioned to sign, _yeah, you’re such... a nice monster. A really nice monster...!_

I translated that for the Loox, without the pauses.

“...Really. Finally, someone gets it!” the monster replied.

I gave a nod to him, and motioned to let him pass us. As he left, I gave a sigh. _Man, I miss the days when they thought I was a monster myself._

Frisk jumped up and down a few times (I guess to clear her head), then she ran over to a sign that was in the room. I followed her lead, examining the new room we had entered. It cornered off to the right, like an upsidedown L, and there were three pillars in the room. One of them had a colored switch on the side, and I got the feeling all of them did. The exit was open.

I looked over at the sign Frisk was reading. “The far door is not an exit. It simply marks a rotation in perspective.”

Okay, so it was a hint to another puzzle. Looking ahead, I could the hallway leading the next room was slanted upwards.

“Okay...” I took a quick look around the room, checking behind the pillars to confirm that, yes, there were colored switches on the other pillars.

The two of us then moved onto the next room, and... it looked like the previous room. It continued on, off to the right, to what I would’ve imagined, at this point, to be a loop. And this time, the exit was closed, with more spikes.

I rounded the corner and found another sign. “If you can read this, press the blue switch.”

“Hey, Frisk, can you find a blue switch?” I called to her, calmly, hoping not to scare her.

Frisk nodded, and ran back to the room’s entrance, behind one of the pillars. I heard a click, and then the spikes went down.

“Good job!”

Frisk skipped, a huge smile on your face.

The next two rooms were pretty much the same thing as the last, sign telling us what switch to find, we hit it, and then move on. Nothing to hard. Eventually, we looped back to a room above the one we were in before. It seemed the main path lead off to the left, though the hallway also continued forward. And there were several vines on the floor.

I was going to head to the left, but at this point, I figured that Frisk was going to run off down the other path. As I expected, she began walking towards the other end of the hall. I just rolled my eyes and followed.

The hallway led us into a small side room with a doorway leading outside. Frisk didn’t even wait for me, as she left through the doorway.

I followed her... and regretted it immediately.

We had walked out onto a balcony, overlooking the vast ruined city that was, well... the Ruins. And we were high up. ...Very high up.

Not good for someone who was afraid of heights!

I quickly backed up, trying to not think about the crazy fall before me. ...And it wasn’t working. I was freaking out.

I didn’t know how long it was, as my mind flashed with all nasty ways I could’ve died... when something pulled me away.

Looking down, I saw little Frisk looking back up at me.

“Frisk...”

 _You were just standing there,_ she signed back. _You weren’t listening to me! I got scared!_

“Sorry...” I sighed, “Frisk, please, remember that I’m afraid of heights. And that balcony... You knew about that, right... From the previous timelines.”

Frisk's gaze dropped.

“You forgot... it’s okay. Just... if you see me like that again, just help me out, just like you did now. Alright.”

Frisk looked back up, and nodded.

“So, why did we come over here, anyways?” I asked.

Frisk pulled away, looking away again.

“Frisk.”

She gingerly took something out of her bag. It was a toy knife, a purple plastic blade with a black handle. A mere simple plastic toy... but to monsters, any weapon used with an intention to kill can be fatal.

“Frisk, why? We promised, no killing.”

Frisk wouldn’t meet my eyes.

“Come on, give me that.” I took the fake weapon from her. “Please, I know you’re scared, but no more weapons, okay...”

Frisk didn’t move for a short while (probably her way of being silent), but soon, she looked up and signed, _I’m sorry._

“Frisk...” I knelt down, and signed back, _we can do better. I promised you, I’d make sure that you wouldn’t have to hurt anyone. Not anymore._

_Okay._

_So no fighting. Leave that to me, and you just watch. Make sure you show them peace._

Frisk nodded.

 _Okay, now let’s go._ I got up, and grabbed Frisk’s hand, while I put the knife in my pocket (so Frisk couldn’t get it again), leading her back towards the main path.

Once we turned back on the path, we crossed some more red leaves. Frisk took a second to stomp on all of them, of course. Kid’s gotta have her fun a guess. I just let her do that, give her the chance to relieve some of the tension from before.

Going through one more doorway, we found ourselves in front of a large tree, it’s bark black, and without leaves (though it was surrounded by more red leaves). Before we could check it out further...

“Oh dear, that took longer than I thought it would,” a familiar voice behind the tree said. She walked out from behind the tree, and...

It was Toriel, who came around, and brought out her phone, is if to call us... before she actually saw us.

“So, we can explain...” I told her, nervously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was happy to get this chapter up with new cover arts for both "books"). This is shorter than most chapters I write, but hey, I happy to be at the end of the Ruins. Just a two (maybe three) more chapters before we move on the next area, and man I am excited!


	8. Home...?

I just stood there awkwardly, as Toriel took in the fact that we were already here.

She then took a deep breath. “Chara, Frisk, how did you two get here? Are you hurt?”

I took a look at the two of us. We were pretty all right, all things considered.

“So... we’re fine,” I told her, “and as for us finding you, when we found out some dog took your phone, we wanted to look for you.”

“Oh... I see. Yes, I understand. I should not have left you alone for so long. It was irresponsible to try to surprise you like this,” Toriel explained.

“Surprise us?”

“Err... well, I suppose I cannot hide it any longer.”

“Definitely not. But, sorry for leaving before you returned,” I sheepishly said.

“Oh, that’s all right. I was simply worried about you getting hurt in this unfamiliar place, surrounded by unfamiliar creatures. But you two arrived safe and sound. And you did you say you were an adult, Chara, so I should have figured you could take care of Frisk,” Toriel responded.

 _Well, the ‘creatures’ aren’t unfamiliar,_ I thought, _but at least you recognized me as an adult. So you at least remembered I’m not a kid._

“...But, uh, you two... you didn’t get into any trouble with the other monsters, did you?” Toriel asked.

“No...” I answered.

 _We spared them all!_ Frisk signed.

Though instead of translating exactly what she said, I said, “we had no problems with them. If something happened, we resolved it.”

“I see... Well, as long as you are safe,” Toriel said. “Please, come!”

Toriel led us past the black tree, where just beyond it... was a strangely familiar sight. At least, for me.

It was the entrance to what appeared to be a small house, with an open doorway and two windows. More red leaves were gathered outside, and above the doorway, there was a sign, but the words were long since faded. Still, it looked pretty clean and tidy, all things considered.

 _No way..._ my mind was running with memories of my past life with Toriel and her family. Happy ones, sad ones...

This place... looked like my old home in the monster capital, when I was a part of the Dreemurrs family.

Well, I could tell it wasn’t the same house. Not only was this the Ruins, not the capital of the Underground, this place made from the same purple stones as the rest of the area. That and I haven’t seen the inside yet.

Speaking of which, Toriel entered through the door, into the house. Frisk ran to one of the piles of leaves, though this time, she didn’t play with them.

She turned to me and signed, _it’s another star!_

“Well, you know what that means,” I replied. “Seeing such a cute, tidy house in the Ruins... gives you determination!”

Frisk smiled as she reached out to the unseen star.

We followed Toriel inside, and well...

The home foyer was very similar to the one in the capital, just in a warmer light brown color. There was a doorway to the left, and hallway to the right, and a set of stairs right in front of us (though we would need to go around to the right to get to them, since a railing was in the way). I also saw a small bookcase by the stairway top, a simple potted plant on the opposite side, a few empty photo frames, and an unlit candle on the wall.

 _So it is just like home..._ I thought. Then I remembered, monsters used to live here in the Ruins, way in the past. Perhaps the Dreemurrs had modeled their new home after this one after they left, but didn’t make it as... colorful as the new one.

“Do you smell that?” Toriel asked us.

I took a quick sniff, and I could smell something I hadn’t had in a long time. _Did she really...?_

“Surprise! It is a butterscotch-cinnamon pie. I thought we might celebrate your arrival. I want you to have a nice time living here. So I will hold off on snail pie for tonight,” Toriel exclaimed.

I couldn’t help but smile. I loved her B-scotch pie, and I spent a long time trying to master making it myself (snail pie wasn’t bad either). Looking at Frisk, I knew she was in for a treat, as well (before I remembered, she was here before in previous timelines, so she probably already knew this was coming).

But I didn’t miss what Toriel had fully said. _Nice time living here?_ I thought, _what are you planning?_

“Here, I have another surprise for you,” Toriel said, as she motioned us to follow her into the hallway. Said hallway was more a yellow color than the previous room, with some more potted plants, candles, and empty photo frames going down it. There were three doors on the left side, each, I assumed, leading into a different room.

“This is it...” Toriel continued, “A room of your own. I hope you like it...!” she trailed off. “Oh dear, I just realized... There’s only one bed.”

Frisk seemed to think on this, then signed, _I can sleep with mommy!_

I just gave a nervous chuckle.

“What is it, Chara?” Toriel asked.

“Uh, Frisk wants us to share a bed...” I told her.

“Well... that’s... sweet. I’m sure we can figure it out later.” Toriel then raised her hands, and rubbed our heads. Frisk giggled at this, I was just kind of annoyed. Gaster used to do this to mock my height.

Suddenly, Toriel stopped and turned back to where we came from. “Is something burning...? Um, make yourself at home!” she cried before running off.

I shrugged it off, as Frisk entered the “our” room. I followed, and inside, it seemed to be a standard kid’s room, colored red with a single bed (of course), a box of toys (which I wasn’t interested in at all. I was an adult, after all), a rug, a few lamps, a dresser, a display shelf, and an extra box. On the wall, there was a drawing of a flower hung up (which reminded me of Flowey). On the shelf was an empty and dusty photo frame (they were all over the place). I went over to check what was in the box, and I found it was full of numerous shoes, all in different sizes (I figured none of them would fit me, but maybe Frisk?).

Frisk wandered over to the bed, sat on it, and yawned.

“You can’t be tired already?” I asked.

Frisk just shook her head.

“Well, I guess we have been exploring the Ruins for a while. It’s hard to tell time down here, so it could’ve been a whole day,” I replied.

 _Can we sleep?_ Frisk signed.

“I know you want me to join you, but...” I took a close look at the bed. “It’s not going to fit both of us. Besides, I’m not tired yet.”

Frisk pouted.

“...But... Maybe I can tuck you in...?”

And Frisk beamed at that.

She laid down, as I pulled the bed’s covers over her. “Sweet dreams, Frisk.”

Frisk happily nodded, before closing her eyes.

I smiled, and back away before leaving the room, as I started to realize, _that... was what a mother would, isn’t it. I shouldn’t... I can’t be her mom._

I shook that off. At least it was a nice thing to do, regardless. And she’s still young, so...

I decided the best thing to do now is let Frisk sleep, and check the place out. Toriel was checking her pie, and I could check on her... but I decided to look around instead. After all, the best to find out something about someone... is to check their room.

I noticed at the end of the hall, the last door had a sign on, running over to check it, I found it just said “Room under renovations” I didn’t know what that meant, but trying to open the door, I found it was locked.

To the right of the door was a mirror. I stepped in front of it, taking a good look at my reflection, for the first time since I fell into the Void.

 _Well, it’s me,_ I thought. Same old me, though I guess I looked more tired, more stressed. Everything that had happened most of had its toll on me.

I shrugged that off, and made my way back to the second door. Inside that one, I could tell the room had to belong to my mom. It was blue, and there was a large bed (definitely bigger than a twin-sized bed), a big bookcase with a pot of golden flowers on top, a dresser with a lamp on top of it, a desk with another lamp, a bucket ...of snails, and a cactus (truly the most tsundere of plants).

I checked the desk, and found an open book on it. Almost immediately, I noticed it was Toriel’s dairy, due to the obviously handwritten text, and there was a passage circled in red marker on the open page. I figured if I wanted to know what Toriel was doing for the past few decades, I should read it.

And the circled passage read, “Why did the skeleton want a friend? Because she was feeling BONELY...”

After giving a small chuckle to that, and then flipping through the pages of the diary, I found that it was filled with jokes of a similar caliber. I always loved Toriel’s humor, but this isn’t exactly what I was looking for.

I looked at the small chair by the desk, and I noticed on the back, the name “Chairiel” was carved in the back. I remember me and Asriel helping to make a chair like this, the name being a pun of Toriel’s name. Was this the same chair? It certainly looked like it. If so, how did it last this long?

Moving on to the bookcase, I pulled out a book. It was an encyclopedia of subterranean plants (which I was sure I’ve seen before when I was staying at Gaster’s place. He probably even had me read as part of my homeschooling). Opening to a random page, I read, “‘Typha’ – A group of wetland flowering plants with brown, oblong seedpods. Known more commonly as ‘water sausages’.” Interesting, and I remembered seeing a few of those in the hallway, but not what I was looking for.

Putting the book back, I quickly skimmed the rest of them, and couldn’t find anything of worth. So, I turned my attention to her dresser. I figured, _screw it,_ and opened the top drawer.

...And it was Toriel’s sock drawer. Scandalous!

...Then I remembered I’ve never seen Toriel wears socks. Or shoes. So why did she have these?

Closing it, I sarcastically said to myself, “well, that was helpful. Found out so much...”

Well, I knew she was still Toriel, still my old adoptive mother. But from the phone call earlier, it seemed she was being tight-lipped on what was really going on. And why keep us here...?

At this point, I figured it was best to go talk to the boss monster, herself.

* * *

“Oh, hello there, Chara,” Toriel greeted as I entered the kitchen, crossing through the living room to the left of the entrance. She was busy cutting some slices of pie, presumably for me and Frisk. “Where’s Frisk?”

“She went to sleep,” I told her, looking around the kitchen. A fridge, the sink (which had some white fur stuck in the drain, of course), countertop, and a stove that seemed little used. I figured she must of used fire magic, most of the time. It made sense, but I didn’t do it, even though I had mastered my fire magic.

I pointed to the fridge, and asked, “do you mind if I get a drink?”

“Oh, not at all,” Toriel replied, as she placed some pie slices on a few plates. Looking at the pie itself, it was quite large, as Toriel always made them that way. It used to be imitating to me, but not so much anymore.

I opened the fridge... standard groceries, some milk, and... Score! A bar of chocolate! I grabbed the milk and chocolate, and placed them on the counter.

“Oh, uh, Chara, that chocolate...” Toriel started before trailing off.

“Yes...? Should I put it back?” I asked. If she didn’t want me to have it, then that was fine, though disappointing. I loved chocolate, and it’s been forever since I had some.

“No, it’s fine, I just... I don’t know,” Toriel thought about it for a moment. “I know you’re an adult, but even you shouldn’t have a lot of sugar sweets, and I just made pie for you.”

Good excuse, and I did want some of that pie as well... hm. “I’ll save the chocolate for later,” I told her, putting it in my pocket. Figured it was monster food, so it couldn’t melt.

Toriel told me she was going to sneak into Frisk’s room, and place a piece of the pie by the bed for her, which was sweet. Meanwhile, I was enjoying my slice with a cup of milk.

A simple room, a table with three chairs (how convenient), another bookshelf, some gardening tools, and a recliner where Toriel left a book in it, next to a lit fireplace. I could sense the magic coming from it, so I figured the fire was magic, which meant to would’ve been safe to put your hand in. It could only provide warmth and comfort.

Toriel returned, sitting down in the recliner while picking up her book, and reading it from where ever she left off.

As I finished up my food, I figured it was time to get to the bottom of things. Spinning around in my chair, I planned to start a conversation.

“So, Toriel, what’cha reading?” I asked.

“Oh, this is called ’72 Uses for Snails,’” she replied. “It’s quite an interesting book.”

 _Yep, she still likes her snails,_ I thought. “That’s nice. So... thanks for letting us stay here...”

“Oh, yes. Sorry for not having a bed for yourself, Chara. Until we can figure that out, do you think this recliner might be comfortable?”

“Uh, sure...”

“Anyways, I just you want you to know how glad I am to have someone here. There are so many old books I want to share. I’d like to show you my favorite bug-hunting spot. And... well, I know you might not need this, but for Frisk, I’ve prepared a curriculum for her education.”

 _Yeah, and so would Gaster,_ I thought, _well, if I tried to convince him, maybe._

“This may come as a surprise to you... But I have always wanted to be a teacher. ...Actually, perhaps that isn’t very surprising. STILL! I am glad to have you living here.”

“Yeah, about that... know we can’t stay, Toriel,” I solemnly told her. “I need to take Frisk home.”

“What!? But this... this IS your home now,” Toriel exclaimed.

“Please, don’t get me wrong, you’re being so kind to us, and I’D love to stay here, but Frisk needs to go home, and I have to help her get there.”

“Um... perhaps you would like to hear more about my book. How about it?”

“Don’t change the subject!” I yelled angrily.

“I... I... How about an exciting snail fact!? Did you know the snails... make terrible shoelaces? Interesting.”

I just glared at her in annoyance. Things were quiet for a bit, but then Toriel got up, and said, “...I... have to do something. Please, stay here.” Then she rushed into the foyer.

I wasn’t going to accept her trying to evade the subject, so I followed her.

Entering the foyer, I caught the goat lady disappear down the stairs. Intending to catch up, I simply lept over the railing, using my blue magic to control my short fall. As I hit the ground, as saw Toriel rushing down a purple tunnel. In the capital, this would’ve led to the Barrier, but here...

“TORIEL!” I called out, running after her.

She stopped when she heard my voice, and without turning around, told me, “...you wish to know how to return ‘home,’ do you not? Ahead of us lies the end of the Ruins. An exit to the rest of the Underground.” She started walking forward again, continuing by flatly saying, “I am going to destroy it. No one will ever be able to leave again.”

“Excuse me...”

“Please, go back upstairs...”

Anger washed over my face. “NO! Why are you doing this!?”

Toriel slowed down as she took a deep breath. “Every human that falls down here meets the same fate... I have seen it again and again... They come. They leave. They die.”

 _That’s what this is about,_ I thought, _I know this... but-_

“For an adult, you’re very naive. If you lave the Ruins... They... ASGORE...! ...They will kill you.”

There was a name I hadn’t heard in a while... at least, not one I want to hear again. Not after he practically abandoned me for those same reasons.

“I am only protecting you, do you understand? ...Please, do not interfere.”

Toriel continued on, but there was no way I was going to stay put. I didn’t like what was going on out there, but that didn’t mean she could trap us here.

Determined to continue after her, Toriel, as she walked around a corner, telling me, “do not try to stop me. This is your final warning.”

I didn’t listen.

Finally, we reached a sealed door, one with the same insignia on Toriel’s dress. The symbol of the kingdom of monsters.

Toriel, with her back still to me, said, “you want to leave so badly? Hmph. You are just like others.” Her head lowered. “There is only one solution to this. Prove yourself... Prove to me you are strong enough to survive.”

Suddenly, as Toriel began to turn around, I could feel the tension in the air slowly began to build up, as she stared me down. I could see the pained sadness in her eyes, but at this moment I knew, she wasn’t going to back down...

...And neither was I.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now this story is up to date with all the other sites I post these stories on.
> 
> So, I figured I should add my author's notes for these chapters, because I'm doing with my co-writer for my new Hyperdimension story, and on DeviantArt, where I originally posted these, that's basically what the descriptions were anyways. I'll be adding them over time on every chapter on my other stories, though slightly edited, since some of the info will be out of date. If you're new to the story, you've probably already seen them, so this wouldn't matter to you.
> 
> Anyways, finally, we've reached the end of Ruins. The next chapter or two (hopefully just one), I'll finish up this area with the fight against Toriel and what follows. And man, I am so happy, because I am ready to move on Snowdin. So many more interesting things happen in Snowdin.
> 
> This is a bit of a late upload for me. Since I started putting my stories here on Archive Of Our Own, I decided to wait to post this one until I caught up with the latest chapter in this story, so it could be updated with this one at the same time.


	9. Heartache

"Prove yourself... Prove to me you are strong enough to survive."

As Toriel spoke these words, I prepared myself for the fight I could see was about to go down. Toriel was blocking the path into the rest of the Underground, hoping to collapse the entrance, to keep me and my guidee from harm by trapping us here.

Meanwhile, here I was, facing the monster woman that I knew as my adoptive mother. But I remembered that she wouldn't know who I was, thanks to my prior nonexistence. She wouldn't know I was her daughter, nor that she was my first teacher, before the then young Gaster took up my education. She also wouldn't remember that she was the one who started my magic training.

Consider that last point, this was going to be a surprise to her.

Still...

"Listen, Toriel, you don't need to do this," I told her.

"...Yes, I do," she replied, and then she raised her hands. They alit with orange fire, and she summoned numerous fireballs of the same color, flying towards me going back and forth. I could've tried to dodge them, but I wasn't planning on messing around.

I raised my own hands, and made a motion of pushing away, as if I was swimming. With this, using my magic, I pulled the fireballs away from me and to the sides, all of them flying harmlessly past me.

Toriel was surprised by this, which I kind of expected. "You can use magic?"

"Yeah, you- someone important to me gave the spark I needed, so I could use magic," I told her, catching myself from accidentally telling her she was the one who gave me that spark.

Toriel just took a deep breath. "Very well, show me what you are capable of."

Seeing the challenge she was presenting me, I summoned my own fireballs, spheres of crimson-red flames floating around me, prepared to strike. Toriel didn't move much, but I knew she was ready to defend. Those who used fire magic were resistant to other flames, but not immune, so my magic could harm her, but not by much, and the same goes for me. Still, no matter the element, strong magic could still hurt, a lot.

I launched my fireballs at Toriel, and while she moved to push them aside, the same way I had, she wasn't prepared what they were going to actually do. I made a clenched fist, and that motion caused my fireballs to explode and knock her Toriel off her feet.

I smiled in satisfaction. _Now there's a fire magic technique you don't see every day. Condensed fire magic, ready to burst at a moment's notice,_ I thought. But as Toriel got back up, I saw the pain on her face, and immediately felt guilty. _No... I won't do this._

Toriel launched another wave fireballs at me, and I dodge underneath them. This continued for while, me dodging her fireballs, or using my magic to push them aside.

Eventually, Toriel got a frustrated, but questioning look. "What are you doing?"

"I... I won't fight you!" I told her.

Toriel became angry at this. "Attack or run away!"

As she seemed to look straight through me, she waved her hands horizontally across each other, summoning two lines of fireballs at my sides. In response, I made a circle of my own fireballs around me, and then spun around my body as a shield. As Toriel's fireballs flew towards me, I forced them to merge with my own.

Once I had control of all the fireballs, I looked towards Toriel. I could see in her expression that she expected me to launch them at her. Instead, I clenched my fist again, causing the fireballs around me to explode harmlessly. I couldn't hurt myself with my own magic after all.

"Why...?" Toriel responded to this action, "What are you proving this way? Fight me or leave!"

I simply told her, "no! I won't let you do this! This isn't right!"

As I stared her down, she looked away uncomfortably. "Stop looking at me that way."

"Toriel... what are YOU trying to prove?" I asked, turning Toriel's previous back to her.

Toriel did not answer, but her expression became saddened. She sent another fire attack towards me... but I didn't have to do anything. The fireballs flew away from me on their own.

I gritted my teeth, and closed my eyes, thinking back to the encounter with Napstablook. _Dang it, alright!_ I thought. _It's time to be honest with her._

"Mom... do you know who gave me my magic spark?" I told her. "It was you!"

Toriel was shocked by this. "How-"

"I know you won't remember this, but you did. I'm mostly self-taught, but you where the one who started my magic training!"

Toriel's eyes started to tear up. "Please, don't- Just... go away!" She then sent a wall of flames my way. I quickly split the flame wall into two and pushed them aside. And as they began to sputter out, I switched my magic to my blue magic, using it on Toriel. Her soul popped, the upside-down heart that all monsters had, now encased in a blue glow, and I increased gravity on her, forcing her on her knees.

"Chara... what are you doing...?" Toriel asked in distress.

"I'm sorry, I don't want to do this to you," I said, tears now in my eyes as I could feel my heart aching. "But I need you to stop and listen! Over three decades ago, I fell here, in the Ruins, before any other human. Your son found me, he took me to you and Asgore, and you adopted me as your daughter. You gave me my education... you taught me magic... you gave me something I never had. A family. And then... when Asriel died... I ran away, and then you disappeared as well. I can't forgive Asgore for what he did, threatening my life, and essentially abandoning me, but you... I missed you every day."

Toriel was quiet, but her eyes looked up at me in sadness.

"Please... mom... I need you to remember me... please..." I started crying.

There a long silence, but then Toriel said softly, "Chara... there is no need to cry..."

I fell on my knees, my magic hold on Toriel breaking. Free of my grip, Toriel got up, walked over, and hugged me.

"It's okay... I missed you, too, my child..."

"You remember?" I responded.

"Yes, bits and pieces are coming back to me. You used to love playing the piano. And gardening with your father. And you'd also join me whenever I was cooking. You even recorded my recipes in you're little notebook, right?"

I smiled, pulling said notebook, a small red notebook.

Toriel smiled in return, before expression hardened. "Chara, where did you go all those years ago? Before I came here, I looked everywhere for you, but I couldn't find you. And why... why you look much younger then... well, the age I'd expect you to be. Didn't you say you were 20 now? That alone is less than three decades, as you mentioned before."

"I... have a lot I need to talk to you about. Let's go back upstairs, and I'll tell what happened to me," I replied.

* * *

Maybe half an hour later, the two of us were back in the dining room. I had finished telling her my story from when I had ran away, to when I fell into the CORE, and then how I was able to escape.

The minutes following were filled with silence, as Toriel thought of what her first response should be. Finally, she took a deep breath and said, "so, you feel into this... Void. You didn't age until you got out, and everyone forgot about you?"

"Yes... yes... and according to Wingding, as well as excluding him, yes they did," I told her, answer each question individually. "And you know I have proof of that, considering neither you nor Blooky recognized me," I explained.

"You're talking about... Napstablook, right? I occasionally see him around the Ruins at times, but he never wants to talk." Toriel's gaze drifted. "Probably for the best, since he lives outside the Ruins, and comes here phasing through the walls. I don't want anyone outside knowing I am here. But I digress, I'd never would have guessed you two knew each other, memory loss or not."

"Yeah, I met him thanks to his cousin, Hapi. She and I used to be best friends before... well, you know. Along with a skeleton named Pristina, but... I hear she died while I was trapped in the Void."

"I'm sorry, Chara. I wish I could've met her..." Toriel said. "So this... CORE project of yours... Between you and this 'Wingding' fellow... it seemed to be quite the reckless plan you made."

"Well, that just seems to be my fate," I reply sadly. "I try to come up a way to free the monsters from the Underground, and it always backfires in some horrible. First time I tried, I lose my brother. Second time, I literally cease to exist for twenty years, and everybody loses their memories of me. Maybe I shouldn't even bother..."

"Don't think like that Chara!" Toriel exclaimed. "Isn't your Soul trait the red of Determination? That means you'll never give up, even in the face of terrible odds."

"But what can I do!?"

"That is... a very difficult question indeed. But I know you're resourceful. And you've grown into a fine young adult. I know you can accomplish anything you put your mind to."

I smiled, but now it was my turn to ask her something. "Toriel, you said you looked for me. I... I wanted to know where you were, too. What happened exactly?"

"Well... to be honest, while I did look for you, I never would have guessed you made it all the way Waterfall so quickly," Toriel answered. "I figured you might've escaped New Home, but for one to make it through Hotland, then to into Waterfall, it's not a quick journey."

"At the time, no," I said. I knew Gaster had made an effort in Hotland to improve the traversal of the area.

"I did try looking in Waterfall on my way here, but I didn't find anything leading to where you might've been."

I looked off to the side. "Well, the Serif family's home was pretty secluded and out-of-way. It'd be difficult to find."

"A perfect place to hide, I suppose, as long as you were safe."

"I guess... Toriel, is that why you are here? Was this a good place to hide?" I asked her.

Toriel took a second to consider her response. "Yes... Do you remember the history of monsters?"

I nodded, but I still remained silent so she could explain anyways.

"...When the Barrier was first put up and we were trapped down here, we were still fearful of further human attacks. So we retreated deep into the mountain, until we reached the cavern's end. And here, we made our new home."

"Let me guess," I interjected, "Asgore called it 'Home?'"

"Yes, he did. He was always lousy with naming things. But indeed, this used to be our home, long before you fell in here... Once we left, the 'Ruins' became mostly abandoned. Yes, there are a few monsters still living here, but this became a place that most monsters won't come to visit. So I came here, to my old home, to separate myself from the rest of the Underground, sealing the entrance so no one else can come in."

"Unless they can phase through the walls," I noted, referring back to Napstablook.

"Well, it isn't perfect."

I looked away, scared to say what I needed to say, but I did regardless. "Mom... I would... I would love to stay here with you. But I promised that I would help Frisk go home, take her to the Barrier and get her back to the Surface."

Toriel had a hard look on her face. "I... understand. But Chara, I must ask, do you understand what you must do to accomplish this task?"

"I... I know. And I'll deal with that when the time comes," I told her.

"But if you do this, you can never come back from it. You know this, right?"

"I know! I know!" I exclaimed. "I know what I'll lose. But I have to do this!"

Toriel was quiet. She looked worried, scared, and unsure about what I was claiming. Neither of said anything for a while, until we heard the tapping of footsteps approaching us.

Looking over, we found Frisk entering the room, probably having just woken up. In her hands, she held her plate of pie, along with a fork. She wandered over to the table, placed her plate down, and then turning at me, she signed, _I heard yelling. Are you okay, mommy?_

I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. "We're okay," I told her, signing the words as well. "We were just having a discussion."

"Chara," Toriel spoke up. I turned to her, and she continued, "You... the two of you of my blessing to leave the Ruins. I don't know about you, but Frisk... she would just be unhappy trapped down here. The Ruins are very small once you get used to them. It would not be right for her to grow up in a place like this...

"Mom..." I said softly.

"My expectations... My loneliness... My fear... For the sake of you two, I will put them aside." Her expression saddened. "If you truly wish to leave the Ruins... I will not stop you."

I slowly got up, and hugged her. "I promise, I will see you again," I told her quietly. "I will be back."

Toriel smiled, and returned the hug. "I wish I could prepare you two for the journey ahead, but unfortunately, I don't have much to give you that could help. Especially for the cold of Snowdin."

"That's okay," I said, "my fire magic can cover that, and we already have sweaters on. For now... let's enjoy some more pie, and maybe we can wrap up some extra slices for the road."

Toriel thought about it, and then nodded in agreement. So, for the next half-hour, we all had a slice of pie. While that was happening, Frisk asked what had happened while she was asleep. I simply said that we had a disagreement, but it was resolved. I then told her stories about my time with the Dreemurr's, hoping to make Frisk feel more comfortable around my monster mother (while being careful about any subject relating to Asriel. Those memories were still very painful for me).

Once we were ready, having three extra slices of pie added to my inventory, the three of us gathered back at the exit.

"I wish good luck, my children," Toriel told us. "Please, be safe."

"I... of course we will, mom," I replied, and then I gave her one last hug. When she returned it, I said, "I love you."

"I love you, too, Chara."

Once we let go of each other, Toriel then knelt down by Frisk and hugged her, too. Frisk at first, seemed unsure about this, but then she grew more comfortable and returned. This made me smile, as this meant Frisk was becoming more comfortable with not just Toriel, but monsters in general.

Once they let go, I grabbed Frisk's hand, and told Toriel, "so, I guess this is goodbye."

"I suppose it is," Toriel said, "goodbye, Chara, Frisk."

I nodded to her in acknowledgment, and then we turned and left, walking through the door that led out into the Underground.

* * *

As Toriel watched the two humans walk away, she couldn't help but wonder... Did she make the right choice?

First of all, there was Frisk. She was such a young child, perhaps unable to protect herself whenever danger came for her. And at her age, she should still be impressionable, too. What if the experience was not good for her.

And then there was Chara. Toriel only just reunited with her daughter, and even if her memories of Chara were still fuzzy, she couldn't help but worry about her. Sure, she had grown into a strong, young woman, and with her magic, she could protect the both of them...

...But what if something still went wrong?

What if Chara was unable to do what was needed in order to return Frisk to the surface?

These questions swam around in Toriel's mind, as she turned around, heading back upstairs.

* * *

After the door, we continued down a dark corridor, slowly lighting up as we reached the end and entered an open dark room. In the back was another door, probably the proper exit into Snowdin.

And between us and the door, was a familiar face that I didn't want to see.

"Clever... Very clever," he said.

"Flowey..." I growled.

There he was, the buttercup that attempted to kill us before, giving us a wide grin. "You think you're really smart, don't you?"

Without waiting for him to make a move on us, I summoned several fireballs around, and, as an extra precaution in case he tried using his vines again, I created a thin field of fire around my feet and along the ground. The flames freaked Frisk out, though I had manipulated the magic energy so it couldn't harm her specifically. I didn't mean to scare her, but had to be ready in case Flowey tried pulling something.

Flowey's grin widened. "You seem ready to burn me down... That's good. In this world, it's kill... or be killed."

"That's pretty terrible advice," I noted.

Flowey chuckled in response. "Are you sure about that? Sure, you were able to play by your own rules. You spared the life of a single person." His face contorted into the freaky, blacked-eye face we saw before when we first met. "Hee hee hee... I bet you feel really great. You didn't kill anybody this time."

As his face returned to normal, I thought, _does he know about the resets? How? Why?_

"...But what will you do if you meet a relentless killer? You'll die... and you'll die... and you'll DIE! Until you tire of trying. What will you do then?" A new face appeared on him, with a massive, angry, toothy grin. "Will you kill out of frustration?" he continued in a somewhat deeper voice, "or will you give up entirely on this world... And let me ME inherit the power to control it!?"

Staring right into our eyes, Flowey continued, "I am the prince of this world's future! Don't worry, my little monarch, my plan isn't regicide. This... is SO much more interesting!" Suddenly, his face bloated outwards, and he released a shrill, high-pitched laugh, before disappearing into the ground.

"That... d***... flower!" I growled. I dispelled my flames, and turned to Frisk. "Sorry about that, Frisk. I didn't want to let Flowey trap us again."

Frisk, trying to calm down, patted her clothes (even though they were not on fire), and turned to me, signing, _it's okay, mommy. That flower is mean!_

"I agree, but now..." I sighed. "He seems to know what's going here, about the Resets. Do you know why?"

Frisk shook her head. _He's always making fun of me, every time I Reset._

"So, he's just... there. And you don't know why...?" What he said really bothered me. It hit too many points in Frisk's past experiences with the timelines. She met a relentless killer (the new Captain of the Royal Guard, among several other monsters, I was sure), and she died, countless times. If I hadn't chosen to intervein and come back with her this time... would she have given in? She was already killing monsters before. Proving him right...

No, I couldn't let that happen. I WOULD prove that evil, talking buttercup wrong. I would help Frisk spare the monsters, get past them without harming any of them, and we would reach the Barrier, and...

I stopped myself. No need to worry about that need. I looked at Frisk and said, "listen, if you feel that I might accidentally harm you with my magic, please keep in mind, I have complete control of it. It will only hurt what I want it to hurt, and to you, it will harmless. Watch!"

I summoned some of my red flames in my hand, holding it out, and motioned to Frisk to let stretch her arm over it. At first, she was too nervous to move, but slowly, she meekly held her arm out.

My flames touched the bottom of her warm, but they only coated it. Her sleeve didn't even catch fire, much less her arm burning.

Frisk pulled her arm back, and signed, _it felt so warm._

"I know, and it'll keep us warm as we head into the Snowdin Forest," I explained. "So, are you ready to go?"

Frisk gave a big nod, and the two of us the door. We both placed our hands on the large gate, and we pushed it open, a cold wind blowing through and right past us.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! The Ruins arc is finished! I've been wanting to get to Snowdin for a while now! And to start the next chapter off, there is a joke I've WAITING to write in this story. You don't know it, but it's already been set up the last book.
> 
> Anyways, back to this chapter, the fight with Toriel. I felt that the way I wrote this fight, it flowed very well, I'd say. And of course, now Toriel remembers Chara. But she still has a long way to go.
> 
> And I want to say, the last scene with Flowey... I really enjoyed that! First of all, I didn't realize his original dialogue fit so well with my story until I started writing it. Second, it was just so fun to write for whatever reason! It was just an enjoyable moment in writing
> 
> So anyways, now Chara and Frisk are ready to continue their journey. Next time... Snowdin!


	10. Who is Who? (The Skeleton Brothers)

Since the Reset, Gaster, known as Wingding to Chara, had sat silently within his room and office, only leaving to make food and sleep. It had been almost two days since the timeline began anew (though in the Underground, time was difficult to discern).

_Wingding! She's a child! She doesn't know what to do! All she knows is that... monsters keep attacking her. Maybe she could try to get away, but they keep coming, and after a while... she... snaps, I guess. So, she has to fight back. And they die. She doesn't know what their thinking. She only knows she must survive!_

_She doesn't know what she must do to pacify monsters. She's scared, Wingding. She's scared. I know you hate humans, but if you wanted to stop the killing, when killing her only resets time, you should have befriended her. Shown her what to do._

That conversation, what Chara had said, continued to play in his mind. Chara was so mad, and she had left right after, taking Frisk with her. She was right, he realized. He had let his hatred control him.

But what could he have done...?

The short time before the Reset, Gaster had a call with someone who helped him the studying of the Resets. Like him, he could remember the other timelines, and because of this, he could help Gaster watch the kid's actions, study her. And he even communicated with the kid, gave her some tips. But he never guided her, never helped her. Both he and Gaster left her to fend for herself.

They let this happen...

But now Chara planned to handle this, assuming that the Reset didn't remove her from reality again.

"...yeah, i see where you're getting at," the voice on the other end said. "maybe we should've helped her. and you wouldn't be the first to say that."

"I'm not?" Gaster asked.

"yeah, it's a long story. for now, this chara person... she's an old friend of yours, right? you sure she can go back with the kid?"

"Frisk. The child's name is Frisk," Gaster corrected him. "And... I don't know if she can. But she believes that she's here to stay."

"welp, she's got to start somewhere. chara disappeared two decades ago, right? if that's the case, why not start with the kid?"

"I suppose, but we know that they need some time to leave the Ruins."

"yes. i'll keep an eye socket on them, don't worry."

"Thank you," Gaster replied, as he began to notice the world being enveloped in a bright white light. The sign of a Reset. "I'll see you in the next timeline."

Back to the present, so to speak, Gaster was considering what would happen next. Would Chara be okay? Would she have been successful so far? Would Frisk... would she be clean of the dust of slain monsters?

Then, he got a notice on his computer. A camera's motion sensor had been activated. Checking it, he found it was the camera placed at the end of the Ruins.

Gaster had installed this camera system to watch the Underground, helping the Royal Guard keep on eye on any humans, and so he could keep track of anomalies. After he left the position of Royal Scientist, he technically no longer had the authorization to use them, but since he made the system, he simply set up a backdoor account so he could access them.

On the screen, he could see Chara and the child, Frisk, exiting the Ruins. He smiled, happy to see that his old friend had made it through the Reset. Still, he didn't yet know what happened with them in the Ruins. He'd have to wait for a report from his partner in the field, or for Chara to make it back to his home in Waterfall, where she would, hopefully, come to see him. Until then, he could only watch, and rely on his partner.

After all, he was more than just an associate to Gaster...

* * *

As the chilly wind blew around us, I looked around us. A thick, dense forest surrounded us, with the towering trees bunched too close together to pass through, save for a snowy path where the trees were more sparse.

Suddenly there was a loud sound behind us. Frisk silently freaked out, jumping in front of me. I turned around, and found the large door behind us had slammed shut abruptly.

"I guess we're not going back that way..." I muttered. "At least, not easily..."

I looked up at the walls. From the outside, the Ruin's walls were weathered and aging, several cracks going along the purple stone. My gaze falling back down, my eyes rested on a snow-covered bush, ...and I swore I saw something... shiny in it?

Before I could examine it, Frisk grabbed my hand and started pulling me down the path.

"Geeze, was the door that scary?" I asked. I would've been more sarcastic about it, but at this point, I figured the kid might've legitimately been scared by the loud sound the door made.

However, Frisk simply shook her head, as she slowly pulled me along. She still seemed freaked out, though. Not knowing what was going on was starting to make me nervous at well.

As we wove in between the trees, I found a fallen branch on the ground, which we stepped over, not even touching it in any way. The reason I'm bringing this up... well, aside from the fact it was just inconspicuously there, I heard a loud _SNAP,_ and looking back, I found that the branch had been snapped in half. But whatever caused it... wasn't there.

I was a little on edge after that, my eyes darting back and forth, trying to find anything out of place. And maybe fifteen seconds later, I found a shadowy figure walking behind some trees.

Eventually, we reached a small chasm, with a tiny bridge going across it with a barred gate on the other end.

As we attempted to cross (with me wanting to cross quickly), we suddenly heard the crunching of snow, heavy steps that were not our own, followed by a voice saying, "H u m a n ."

This voice was deep, cold, and almost inhuman. It reminded of my time on the surface, which were not good memories in the slightest, and thus terrified me. And this is coming from someone who grew up with someone who prided himself on being intimidating.

"D o n ' t y o u k n o w h o w t o g r e e t a n e w p a l ?" the mysterious stalker continued.

I clenched my fist, and I began to feel warmth in it as my magic started to ignite.

"T u r n a r o u n d a n d s h a k e m y h a n d ."

I made sure Frisk was behind me as I slowly turned around. Covered in the shadows of the trees, the figure held out his hand. Slowly, I raised my own hand...

And snapped my fingers, signaling the summoning of my two blasters. The figure immediately jumped back the split second the magic weapons appeared, as if he sensed the magic before it fully formed.

Fiery power building in my blasters, I aimed them at the figure, but then I noticed that he had summoned a pair of magic constructs of his own, very familiar constructed, soul power building in them.

Without warning, our weapons fired, and my blaster's beams of concentrated flames collided with the pure white beams from his. And at this moment, I was able to get a full look at his weapons, and he was also finally able to fully acknowledge my blasters...

"Why do you have Gaster Blasters!?" we both cried out at the same time. Both of us had Skull Blasters, or Gaster Blasters, which, true to the name, were animistic skulls with split jawbones. True, I had some of the prototype models, while the figure's Blasters looked more advanced, but still...

I was surprised. I knew that these were magic weapons made by my friend Wingding, or Gaster, hence the name "Gaster Blaster" (a name which always irritated him, which, of course, is why the name stuck). My blasters were given to me by Gaster. Some random person shouldn't have a set of his own.

The figure walked forward into the lighter area, revealing his form. He was a skeleton monster, glowing white dots in his eye sockets (as expected for a skeleton monster), a large grin, and was rather short. Shorter than me even, ...but not Frisk. He was also a bit... stout, let's put it. He wore a blue jacket over a white shirt, a pair of black shorts, and pink slippers.

Wait... a skeleton. Like Wingding. It couldn't be...

"Hang on, do... do you know Gaster?" I asked.

The skeleton gave a wide cheeky smile, and said in a far more laidback and casual sounding voice, "yep. i guess you do, too?"

"Yeah... he was the one who gave me my blasters. Heck, I was the one named them," I said proudly.

"really? i guess we could call you the 'gaster blaster master'."

I laughed at that. "So... I'm guessing Gaster gave you some blasters, too?"

"nope."

I gave him a confused look.

"he showed me how to make them," he said with a wink.

"Okay..." I sighed. "So, does that mean you're Gaster's son? He mentioned having a son, and if you have his blasters... well, you know."

"you think i'm him?"

"Yep."

"that makes sense."

"...So, are you?"

"yep."

"...Ah, geez, you really like leading people on, don't you?" I replied, dismissing my blasters. "Anyways, sorry for attacking you. You really surprised us." I held my hand out. "It's good to meet you, Papyrus!"

Instead of shaking my hand, he started to chuckle. Slowly, but surely, his laughter grew, until he was laughing uncontrollably.

"Are... are you okay?" I asked.

"oh... that's rich... that is rich. my dad told you about me?"

"Well, he mentioned you, but I didn't get the chance to really ask about you," I admitted.

He gave another laugh. "okay, but did he mention having that he had two sons?"

"Wait... he has two sons!?"

"nope, three."

"What!?"

"nah, he's got two. i'm sans. sans the skeleton. papyrus is my younger bro."

"Oh... heheh...heh. Sorry," I laughed nervously. That was embarrassing. Granted, we had a heated argument before the Reset, so I didn't get the chance to ask, but I should've at least asked Sans about it.

"eh, it's cool," Sans said, raising his hand.

Finally, I was able to shake his hand, ...only for a loud farting sound to come out.

"heheh... the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it's ALWAYS funny," Sans remarked. I just facepalmed. "anyways, gaster mentioned you, too. you're frisk, right? and that's chara?" he continued, pointing at Frisk behind me while smirking.

"Okay, I deserved that," I replied. "I'm Chara, and this is Frisk."

Sans laughed. "oh man, that's hilarious! now, i'm actually supposed to be on the watch for humans right now. but... y'know... i don't really care about capturing anybody."

"That's... good, I guess." I looked back at Frisk, who was still hiding behind me, scared of Sans. Given the beginning of our encounter, I couldn't blame her.

"now papyrus... he's a human-hunting FANATIC," Sans explained, before turning his gaze past us. "hey, actually, i think that's him over there. hm... i have an idea. go through this gate thingy." He pointed to the gate over the bridge. "yeah, go right through. my bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone."

Sans guided us past the bridge and into a clearing with a wooden sentry station, ...and a random lamp.

"Quick, behind that conveniently-shaped lamp."

Frisk rushed over the lamp, though I wasn't sure if it was because Sans said to, or if she was still trying to hide from him. I just looked at it and said, "I don't think I can hide behind that. I'm too tall." Which was an odd statement for me, since I was short. "It's not really 'convenient' for me."

"Okay, then you can stand here with me," Sans replied, as we heard heavy footsteps approaching.

Another skeleton approached us, this one much taller, standing closer to Gaster's height. His eyes were dark, yet with his goofy grin gave an air of friendliness and innocence. He wore a white chest plate with gold trims, and with a red scarf over it, red gloves with gold cuffs, blue shorts with a gold belt, and red boots.

"'sup, chara," Sans greeted, and yes, I did notice that Sans referred to this skeleton by my name.

"YOU KNOW WHAT ''SUP', BROTHER- WAIT A SECOND... DID YOU JUST CALL ME... 'CHARA'?" the tall skeleton asked in a rather... bombastic voice.

"yep."

"UGH, SANS WHY MUST YOU DO THIS!?"

"i'm not sans, i'm papyrus. that's sans," the shorter skeleton said, pointing to me.

Now I understood what he was doing. Sans wasn't exactly done with my mishap earlier, now pulling his brother into it.

"WHA- WHAT? I'M CONFUSED. OH, IT DOESN'T MATTER, SANS THERE IS AN ISSUE!"

"you mean 'papyrus', right?"

"YES. WAIT, NO! UGH, SANS, STOP IT! LISTEN, IT'S BEEN EIGHT DAYS... AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T... RECALIBRATED. YOUR. PUZZLES!"

 _And that is important... why?_ I thought.

"YOU JUST HANG AROUND OUTSIDE YOUR STATION!" "Chara" continued. "WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING!?"

"starting at this lamp. it's really cool. do you wanna look?" "Papyrus" replied.

I got a little nervous that Sans was selling Frisk out, not that it mattered that much, because I was right there in the open, but thankfully "Chara" wasn't having any of it.

"NO! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT!" he exclaimed. "WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH HERE!? I WANT TO BE READY! ...I WILL BE THE ONE! I MUST BE THE ONE! I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN!"

 _Oh wow, could you be anymore oblivious?_ I thought. He really didn't realize I was standing right here.

"THEN, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS... WILL GET ALL THE THINGS I UTTERLY DESERVE!" he continued, "RESPECT... RECOGNITION... I WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD! PEOPLE WILL ASK TO BE MY FRIEND, AND I WILL BATHE IN A SHOWER OF KISSES EVERY MORNING."

"hmm... maybe this lamp will help you," his brother replied.

"SANS! YOU ARE NOT HELPING! YOU LAZYBONES! ALL YOU DO IS SIT AND BOONDOGGLE! YOU GET LAZIER AND LAZIER EVERY DAY!"

"hey, take it easy. i've gotten a ton of work done today. a skele-ton," Sans replied with a wink.

And I just had to laugh at that pun of his.

"YOU NOT HELPING!" Papyrus yelled at me. Though whether or not he realized I was human was yet to be seen.

"Oh, come on. You're smiling," I told him.

"she's right," Sans added.

"I AM AND I HATE IT!" Papyrus then sighed. "WHY DOES SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME... HAVE TO DO SO MUCH JUST TO GET SOME RECOGNITION..."

"wow, sounds like you're really working yourself... down to the bone."

I chuckled at Sans's next pun, while Papyrus just went, "UGH! I WILL ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES... AS WORK YOUR WORK? PUT A LITTLE MORE... BACK INTO IT. NYEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH!" And he ran off, before coming back to add, "HEH!" and turned away again.

"okay, kid, you can come out now," Sans said, turning to the lamp.

Frisk slowly walked out from behind the lamp, and then scrambled over to me.

"...Wow," I simply said, still in awe of what happened. "So... THAT was Papyrus."

"yeah, ain't my bro the coolest?" Sans replied.

"Sure..."

I looked down at Frisk. I remembered that Papyrus was one of the monsters she had to kill to get through the Underground. I decided right then to put extra importance on making sure she didn't hurt him.

"well, you two oughta get going. he might come back. and if he does..." Sans explained, "...you'll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes."

"And you think that'll be a problem? Because I'm not sure you have the guts," I replied.

"Hahaha, good one."

"Well, we better get going," I said, grabbing Frisk's hand. As we walked off, I added, "we'll see you later, 'Papyrus'."

"actually, hey... hate to bother ya, but can you do me a favor?"

"Oh, sure, what do you need?"

"i was thinking... my brother's been kind of down lately... he's never seen a human before. and seeing you might just make his day."

"You sure, 'cause I was right there, and I don't think really registered my presence, save for that one reply. Also, isn't he trying to capture us?"

"don't worry, he's not dangerous, even if he tries to be. oh, and he'll surely figure out who you are when he sees the both of you. he's smarter than he looks."

"Well, okay. He's the son of my friend, so I wanted to get to know him anyways. I'll be sure to help," I told him.

"thanks a million. i'll be up ahead," Sans said, before walking not ahead of us, but back towards the Ruins.

"Okay..." I replied, confused.

Well, for what it was, I just met Gaster's sons. As we walked ahead, Frisk turned to what I assumed must've been another one of those stars I couldn't see.

"So, did you like those two?" I asked her.

Frisk turned around and signed, _I... don't know. They were kind of funny, but..._

"It's okay," I said. "After meeting their father, I'd understand if you couldn't trust them. But they seem nice. I'm sure we can become friends with them, right?"

Frisk didn't move for a bit, but eventually, she nodded.

"Atta girl. And think about this... I bet you that the convenience of that lamp still fills you with determination..." I joked with her, which caused her to silently chuckle. "Sans helped with that. He may have scared us at first, but he clearly wants to help us. So, let's help him, okay?"

 _Okay,_ Frisk signed, and she smiled lightly.

I rubbed her head as we continued on in the snowy forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, instead of doing the next chapter for Sapphire the Hedgehog, I decided to jump for the next chapter of Fallen Determination. But don't worry, the next Sapphire story was finished yesterday, and will be added next week.
> 
> To start, I wasn't originally planning on adding the scene with Gaster, but when I thought of it, I realized it was good and I should add it. Besides, we haven't seen Gaster in this Book yet, and this was the perfect time to introduce. Also, I planned to put that scene at the end of the chapter, but almost immediately realized it would work better at the beginning.
> 
> Sans and Papyrus! They are now finally in the story. This is what I've waiting for. Snowdin is so fun. So, that joke with Chara confusing Sans with Papyrus, I thought of it a long time ago, thought it was funny, and decided to hold on to it. As mentioned in the chapter, it was set up in the last Book, when Chara heard about Gaster's son, Papyrus, but didn't get the chance to follow up on that.  
> Now, with me finally able to write the full joke, I'll admit it didn't come to ME, as I was hoping (maybe it's been to long since I came up with it, and didn't remember how exactly I wanted to deploy it, or maybe not, I don't know), so I extended it into the meeting with Papyrus himself. Definitely seems like the kind of thing Sans would do.
> 
> Now, with Chara present, and the occasional other added elements, it's pretty clear that I'd need to rewrite some lines, at least slightly. But there was one line, I'd like to say, I rewrote because of my opinion. The line (or rather, lines) was "PEOPLE WILL ASK, TO, BE MY, FRIEND? I WILL BATHE IN A SHOWER OF KISSES EVERY MORNING." The way that was written, even with the expressions Papyrus gives in-game (which was a worried or unsure expression), it bothers me. I get Papyrus is feeling down, but the way this line is expressed doesn't seem right to me.  
> So, I rewrote it as "PEOPLE WILL ASK TO BE MY FRIEND, AND I WILL BATHE IN A SHOWER OF KISSES EVERY MORNING", just going for a more straight interpretation. Papyrus doesn't seem like the person to OPENLY be unsure of himself, until he actually loses, so I decided to keep it straight


	11. Into the Snowdin Forest

Very quickly, the tall trees swapped out with snow-covered pines, as we continued down the path. To our left, a river flowed past us, towards the direction we were traveling.

As we walked along, off to the side, nestled by some trees, was a box and a standing sign by it. The sign read, "This is a box." _Brilliant,_ I thought, starting off. "You can put an item inside or take an item out. The same box will appear later, so don't worry about coming back. Sincerely, a box lover."

"Okay..." I said, wondering how this was a good idea. Putting your items into a random box, and grabbing them later from a different, yet the "same" box? How did the box move, or move the items inside? What if some else used the box? Wouldn't they be able to take your items?

Sure the answer was probably "magic", using some sort of pocket space or something. But growing up around magic, I knew it was more complicated than that. Casting magic could be simple, but magic like "pocket spaces" was quite advanced, if you didn't have access to one naturally.

Wingding would compare it to a computing device, but since I'm not tech-savvy like him, I would compare it to something I know: Cooking. If you wanted to get a recipe right, you would need to get the right ingredients, split them into the right amount, mix them in the right order, and bake them in the right amount of time. One mistake, and you could ruin the whole thing.

Magic was very similar to that, but it relied more on your emotion and thoughts. Some magic was easy to learn, and all monsters had specific types of magic that were natural to them. But other magic was very difficult to master, and even could be dangerous if you screwed up using it.

I was going to just ignore the box. I had plenty of room in my pockets. I even knew how to use pockets spaces myself. How else would I store my Gaster Blasters? Frisk, however, opened up the box and reached inside.

"What are you looking for?" I asked her.

She grabbed whatever she was looking for, and pulled out a pair of tough-looking, but worn pinkish gloves.

"What are those for?"

Frisk looked at me nervously. She tried signing with one hand, holding the gloves in the other, saying, _it... protects my hands._

"Like... armor?" Then it occurred to me. While protecting your hands could be important in a fight, but based on how she was asking, it was more likely she meant to keep her hands from hurting if she were to hit something, maybe even do more damage.

In short, they were another weapon.

"Frisk," I told her slowly, "I told you, we don't have to fight the monsters."

She looked down in shame.

I sighed. "Okay, you can put them on, but only because they'll probably keep your hands warm. No fighting with them," I repeated.

She nodded as she put on the gloves, squeezing her hands to warm them up.

Continuing on a short bit, just before the forest path diverged from the river, we found a fishing rod affixed to the ground, its line hanging in the water. Curious, I reeled in the line...

Only the thing attached to the end of the line was a photo of a weird-looking monster, some ugly fish dude. On the back, it said, "Call me! Here's my number!"

I decided not to call, and instead opted to send the line back into the water.

Delving back into the forest, we began to hear voices up. Lo and behold, it was Sans and Papyrus again. And of course, I was wondering how Sans got here so fast when he went the OTHER WAY!

As we approached, I could hear what they talking about. "SO, AS I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDYNE..." Papyrus was saying.

"Oh, hey look, it's my good friend, Chara!" I jokingly said towards the taller skeleton.

Papyrus turned to us in annoyance, while Sans just chuckled. "IF I MUST, I SHALL CORRECT YOU. I... AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!"

"I know," I told him. "What, can't take a joke? Geese, you must pretty 'bonely' then."

Sans's chuckle became a full laugh, while Papyrus groaned. "I SEE MY BROTHER HAS ALREADY CORRUPTED YOU."

"No, I was always like this," I replied. "I'm 'Sans' a corruptor."

Papyrus groaned again, before he squinted at see, his gaze passing by me. "WAIT, THERE ARE TWO OF YOU NOW..."

I looked behind me, finding the nervous Frisk hiding behind me again. I then looked back to Papyrus, saying, "yes..."

Papyrus scratched his chin, before saying, “WAIT A SECOND...” He then turned to Sans, while at the same time, Sans finally turned to us. Then Papyrus turned back to us, while Sans turned to his bother, and then going back and forth between these positions, faster and faster until they were both spinning in circles, when finally, they stopped, facing us, with Sans, of course, giving us finger guns.

Papyrus quickly pulled Sans in for a quick private talk, turning away from us, though we could still hear their loud whispers. “SANS! OH MY G**! ARE THOSE... HUMANS!?” Papyrus asked his brother.

They looked over their shoulders, and Sans pointed past us, saying, “uh... actually, i think those are rocks.”

I looked over, and indeed, Sans was pointing to a pair of rocks on the ground.

“OH,” Papyrus replied, disappointed.

“hey, what’s that in front of the rocks?” Sans quickly noted.

“OH MY G**!” Papyrus turned to Sans, whispering (still loudly), “ARE THOSE... REALLY HUMANS?”

“yes,” Sans whispered back.

“OH MY G**!” Papyrus responded, even louder this time (which I noticed was distressing Frisk). “SANS! I FINALLY DID IT! AND I GOT TWO FOR ONE! UNDYNE WILL... I’M GONNA... I’LL BE SO...”

“POPULAR! POPULAR! POPULAR!” he cheered. “...‘AHEM’. HUMAN! YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU! I WILL THEN CAPTURE YOU! YOU WILL BE DELIVERED TO THE CAPITAL! THEN... THEN! I’M NOT SURE WHAT’S NEXT.”

“Right...” I replied. It was tempting to just ask the over-ecstatic skeleton to just escort us to the capital, since I knew it would lead us to our own goal just the same. But I realized that it be the wrong way to get there, and potentially put us in a disadvantageous situation, so I decided against it. “That’s great and all, but could you calm down a bit. Frisk doesn’t like loud sounds, and you’re freaking her out.”

“OH... I SEE, UM, WAIT, WHICH ONE OF YOU IS THAT?” the taller skeleton asked.

I facepalmed. _We must have taken that stupid name joke too far,_ I thought. “I’m Chara, the real Chara, and this girl behind me is Frisk,” I told him.

"YES, GOOD TO MEET YOU, CHARA, FRISK. I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" he reintroduced himself. "AND THIS..." he motioned to his brother. "IS MY BROTHER... SANS."

"'sup," the shorter skeleton greeted.

"Uh, greetings..." I replied, finding it kind of ridiculous that we even had to be reintroduced the skeletons, when we clearly knew who they were already (but then again, we did go out of our way to confuse him before). Frisk nervously waved in response.

"IN ANY CASE!" Papyrus continued. "CONTINUE... ONLY IF YOU DARE!" Then he once again ran off, laughing in his, "NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"

"well, that went well," sans finally said.

"Yeah, your brother is something..." I told him.

"yup, ain't he cool?" I got an exasperated expression on my face. "don't sweat it, kid," Sans added, "i'll keep an eye socket out for ya."

"Right, except I'm not a kid," I replied, trying to keep my annoyance in check. "Frisk is, but I am a twenty-year-old adult."

"right, good to know. anyways, i'll see ya later." Then he turned followed after his brother, though for all I knew, he was going back to "The Box".

_Maybe that's how it works,_ I thought.

I lightly tugged on Frisk's shoulder, signaling to her for us to move on. As we continued down the path, having to follow where the skeleton brothers had left to. Off to the side, there was a large cardboard box that seemed to be made into a station of sorts. Written on the front was, "YOU OBSERVE THE WELL-CRAFTED SENTRY STATION."

_Right..._ I thought.

"YOU COULD HAVE BUILT THIS, YOU PONDER..."

_I have a few ideas._

"I BET IT WAS THAT VERY FAMOUS ROYAL GUARDSMAN! (NOTE: NOT YET A VERY FAMOUS ROYAL GUARDSMAN.)"

_And that is sad._

But as we continued, I thought about that a little more, and looked down at Frisk. I figured this would be a chance to voice my thoughts.

"You know, Papyrus seems pretty silly," I told Frisk.

She nodded, but her scared expression didn't change.

"I know he's loud and scary, and sure he wants to capture us... But I think he's kinder than you think. Perhaps he doesn't know any better."

I winced as I said that. It was just like what was going on with Frisk. I didn't want to remind her of that, so I added, "sorry..."

_Sorry about what?_ Frisk signed.

"N-nothing," I said. "I just- I'd like to be friends with Papyrus. I think he'd be a great friend, don't you?"

_...I don't know,_ Frisk signed slowly.

"Hey, there is no need to be afraid. Try to think of it like-"

"Did something move!?" a voice spoke up.

The two of us stopped in place. I looked over, and saw that we were passing by another wooden sentry station...

...And someone was sitting there.

He was a humanoid dog monster, with black and white fur, and pointed ears. He was wearing a pink tank top with a dog's face on it (for some reason), and yellow pants with black polka-dots and a brown belt. And he had a bone-shaped dog treat in his mouth.

"...Was it my imagination?" the monster continued. He climbed out of his station, and approached us, sniffing around. "I can only see moving things."

_Good to know!_ I thought.

"If something WAS moving... For example, a human..."

_Here we go._

"I'll make sure it NEVER moves again!"

He drew two short swords and readied himself for battle, looking in our... general direction.

He was looking back and forth, trying to locate our exact location. When he was looking away, I tried to nudge Frisk and sneak by him, but we just moved a tiny bit, and his eyes snapped onto us.

"Don't move an inch!" Doggo (as I decided to call him) said. We went completely still again, as he brought down one of his swords. However, it was apparently a magic sword, as the blades became light blue. I knew this magic. It couldn't hurt anything if it didn't move.

So, of course, it passed right through us.

_That's... an unfortunate form of magic to use,_ I thought. Though, I figured it might have been the best he could've learned.

We remained still, as he said, "will it move this time?" as he swung his other sword. Same result.

_Well, he can't seem to find anything,_ I noted. But if things kept going like this, none of us are going anywhere. So, I decided there was only one thing I could do.

Once Doggo looked away again, I took the chance, and lunged forward... to pat him on the head.

He snapped to me as I snapped away, and went completely still again. And he started freaking out. "WHAT! I'VE BEEN PET!"

He began turning his head back and forth, repeating words like "pet?", "pat?", and "pot?", which was amusing to watch. I smirked, and decided to pet him again.

"WHERE'S THAT COMING FROM!" He tried swinging one of his swords again, but he was too freaked out, and he missed completely.

I had to refrain from chuckling, but then I thought of Frisk. I nudged her a bit, and when she looked up to me, and I motioned for her to pet the dog.

She gingerly moved forward, slowly, as not to be seen by his motion sight, but eventually, she was able to rub his belly a bit.

"THERE'S NO END TO IT!"

Frisk smiled, and decided to keep going.

"WELL, THIS IS THOROUGH!"

But as Frisk kept going, Doggo calmed down (somewhat), saying, "o-o-okay, that's enough." He slunk back into his station, and looked out to us. "S-s-s-something pet me... something that isn't m-m-moving... I'm gonna need some treats for this!" Then disappeared behind his station's counter.

I motioned for Frisk and I to move on, and so we did. I noticed that there some more dog treats discarded near his station, which looked as if they were lit on fire and burned.

_Does he smoke his dog treats?_ I thought. I pushed that thought aside though, and once we were out of listening range of Doggo (or at least I hoped. He was a dog, after all), I decided to get back to what I was telling Frisk before we got interrupted.

"Hey, Frisk, listen, about Papyrus," I started, "I think, based on what Sans told us, Papyrus just wants some friends, but he doesn't know what the right way to do that is. He wants to be recognized, so we should do that. Let's play along with whatever he has planned for us. I mean, we shouldn't get captured, but we should play along. Who knows, it might be fun!"

_Are you sure, mommy?_ Frisk signed.

I was still annoyed that Frisk considered me her mother, but I kept that to myself this time. "Yeah. And if we prove to him that we don't need to be captured, we can definitely be his friends. Sans did say he was harmless, so don't be scared. Okay?"

Frisk nodded in response. I could see she was stilled scared, but hopefully, if I could get Frisk and Papyrus to become friends, then maybe that's what Frisk needed to become comfortable with monsters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, not much to say in this chapter. Chara and Frisk are simply entering Snowdin Forest proper, properly introducing themselves to Papyrus, and facing their first guard dog. I did make a definitive conclusion to the last chapter's naming joke (so it won't come up again. It doesn't need to), and Chara now has a plan to help Frisk with her fear of monsters.
> 
> There are a couple of things to mention. One, yes, I am changing the geographical layout of Snowdin (and likely the rest of the Underground) a bit. This is to try to make everything flow better, by not having them go off the running path as much, everything instead being found on that path. This is mostly to help my pacing.
> 
> Yeah, I know it's not great. The thing is, there are lots of great moments in this game, especially starting in Snowdin. But other people who rewrite the story for their fanfics or AUs (certain ones, at least), they skip over all this stuff. I didn't want to that, instead write how these change or are reacted to by the new characters, because it's interesting. But I'm finding that it's taking much longer to write, and get through an area, not to mention trying not to use repetitive writing during these moments.
> 
> Part of it could be that I actually record Undertale so I can use the footage as a reference for writing, and I'm a bad judge on what really needs to be in there. I'm trying to work on all this, and find the right balance with this, so bear with me. We'll just have to see how things work going forward.


	12. Snowy Challenges

"Better not snow 'flake' out!" a Snowdrake joked. This duck-like monster with the feathers on his face making a snowflake-shape, a toothy grin in his beak, and a scaly belly, had engaged us in a fight along with his friend. Frisk and I decided to try splitting up (so to speak) to challenge each monster one-on-one between the two of us.

I gave a quick laugh at his bad joke, and the monster smiled, responding with, "See!? Laughs! Dad was wrong!"

After dodging some of his ice flake attacks, I told him, "heh, I thought that was pretty good. It was a pretty 'cool' joke of yours."

The monster's excitement ended, as he just stared at me in disbelief. "Ugh, I've heard that one."

"Eh... guess you win them all." I gave the drake a thumbs up, signaling the end of our battle, and he fluttered off.

Looking over, it seemed Frisk was doing pretty good without me. She was fighting an Ice Cap monster, a small snowman monster with big eyes and a carrot nose... and a big ol' ice-crystal hat. At least it was for the moment...

The narcissistic monster was annoyed that Frisk wasn't paying attention to its "cool" hat (hey, just because Snowdrake or Sans aren't around, doesn't mean I'm done with bad puns), but eventually, it was defeated in trying.

However, it seemed that wasn't Frisk's plan. Once it stopped sending icy waves at Frisk, and it stopped paying attention to her, the mute girl snuck up to Ice Cap... and stole his hat! (Which promptly melted in her hands...), and the monster turned into a cube of ice. I guess without its "Ice Cap", it was now just "Ice" (and no, I will not stop with the puns).

"Well, what's the point..." he said dejectedly. With him being Ice Cap no more, it just sat there.

But then Frisk gave him a thumbs up, and that seemed to cheer Ice up. "So I can still impress you?" Seemingly happy with his new identity, the new ice cube monster slid away.

"Hey, good job! I knew you could do it!" I exclaimed.

Frisk looked up at me and signed, _it was scary. I don't want to do it without you._ Tears welled in her eyes.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's okay. Look, I won't always be there to help, but for now, I will be watching you. And I want you to be able to become comfortable with monsters. If you can learn to become friends with them, they will be friendly to you. So, can you do this for me?"

Frisk didn't move for a bit, but then she excitedly signed, _YES! I WILL!_

"Okay, calm down. No need to get too excited. But thank you."

Frisk seemed a little confused by my response. I guess she didn't quite understand how important the monsters were to me. But still, I knew she didn't want to harm anyone anymore, so this was necessary.

We reached a small frozen pond, with a small "island" in the middle with a sign. There was something off to the left, but it was mostly out of view due to trees or such, so I couldn't make it out yet.

As we approached the frozen pond, something else walked out from behind the trees. "hey."

"Hey, Sans," I greeted the skeleton, while Frsik gave a nervous wave.

"i just wanted to tell you something important to remember."

"Yeah?"

"see, my brother has a very... special attack. if you see a blue attack-"

"Don't move and it won't hurt you?" I interjected. "I've seen that kind of magic before. We even just dealt with someone who tried using it on us."

"seems you're on top of things," Sans replied, but then he noticed Frisk was a little confused. "seems the kid here doesn't fully get magic yet. okay, here's an easy way to keep it in mind. imagine a stop sign. when you see a stop sign, you stop, right? stop signs are red. so... imagine a blue stop sign instead."

Frisk nodded, and then made the sign for stop, holding one sideways, palm towards her, the other palm facing up, then brought her sideways hand down on her open palm. After that, she was completely still.

"yeah, you got it. pretty simple, right? remember, when fighting, think about blue stop signs."

Frisk then nodded in response, before waving and walking off, towards the other figure I noticed earlier. I watched to make she wouldn't get into trouble, before turning back to Sans.

"Thanks for helping," I told him. "I really don't want to have to fight your brother, but if it does happen, it'll certainly help."

"well... yeah. as long as you don't... you know," Sans said, knowing exactly what I thinking about.

"Yeah..." I looked back at Frisk, and muttered under my breath, "you know, you'd think Frisk would know more about magic, after..." I stopped my thought there. With how low my voice was when I said that, I didn't think Sans understood it, but it seemed he caught it anyway. But his response caught me by surprise.

"After all the resets, right?"

I turned to stare at him. "Wait, you know?"

Sans was quiet for a bit, before saying, "yeah, i know a bit. i work with my father, watching the kid, and anyone else who had control of the resets. trying to find out how to stop them. also, i, too, remember the previous resets and timelines."

"I... see. Good to know. So does your father know you're here?"

"he asked me to be here. but... i also have my own reasons for being here."

"You do?"

"yep, ...but for now, that's unimportant. papyrus... he doesn't remember the resets. same with pretty much all other monsters. so keep that in mind."

"Right, I understand." It probably wouldn't help if everyone knew that their lives wouldn't matter if time simply rolled back. "I got to go check up on Frisk. I'm sure I'll see you later."

"yep, see ya."

I waved to Sans as I walked over to Frisk. She was enjoying herself as she slid along the ice.

"Having fun?" I asked her. She looked over and nodded before falling on her bum. I snickered. "You okay?"

She gave me a thumbs up, before trying to get up... and falling down again instead.

"Here, let me help you." I grabbed her hand, and helped lift her up. Then I began using my healing magic on any places that might've gotten a bruise. Frisk... seemed to like the feeling of the healing magic. I suppose it made sense, this kind of magic did soothe the senses as it removed any feeling of pain. Still, I don't think I've ever seen Frisk with such a calm expression.

As I finished up, and summoned a few more fireballs for warmth, I told Frisk, "sorry I took a bit, I wanted to talk to... Sans..." I looked over to where Sans was... and he was gone.

 _Okay, how does he do that?_ I thought. I shook my head, and said, "nevermind. Is there something you wanted to do before we move on?" I figured it would be best to ask, in case she wanted to wander off again.

Frisk nodded, and, once again, slid on the ice, this time traveling across it to the other side, past the sign.

"North: Ice  
South: Ice  
West: Ice  
East: Snowdin Town (...and ice)". That's what the sign said.

 _Yep, that makes sense,_ I thought.

Not wanting to risk slipping on the ice, I used my blue magic to leap across the ice. Sure, I could've just walked around, but I wanted to catch up to Frisk.

When I did, she was with that figure I saw earlier, which apparently was a snowman, with coal eyes and a carrot nose. But not any normal snowman. It had to be a was a monster, or at least had magic imbued into it, as it was speaking, talking to Frisk.

"...Hello there," I heard it say as I approached. "I am a snowman. I want to see the world... But I cannot move. If you would be so kind traveler, please... Take a piece of me and bring it very far away."

I leaned down by Frisk, and asked her, "so, what do you want to do? Should you take a piece of him with you?"

Frisk, surprisingly, seemed mystified by the snowman. Maybe because it didn't seem monstrous, but rather friendly. After a bit, Frisk went up and grabbed his carrot nose.

"Geeze, I know he said to take a piece of him, but maybe ask first before taking his nose," I teased.

Frisk sheepishly looked away, then handed me his nose so she could sign, _sorry._

The snowman was confused at first, probably because he didn't understand her sign language, but then I explained and translated for him, and said, "Oh... it's okay. And thank you... good luck!"

I handed the carrot back to Frisk, who put it in her backpack, and we both gave our goodbyes, and went on our way.

* * *

Eventually, the tree line opened up to a snowy opening with cliff drops on both ends. A large square of the area had its snow packed down into a slightly darker patch of ground.

And of course, guess who we found in the middle of a sibling squabble.

"YOU'RE SO LAZY! YOU WERE NAPPING ALL NIGHT!" exclaimed the tall skeleton that we knew as Papyrus.

"i think that's called... sleeping," his stout brother replied snarkily.

 _How does Sans get around from place to place so fast?_ I thought.

"EXCUSES, EXCUSES!" Papyrus replied, before noticing us. "OH-HO! THE HUMAN ARRIVES!"

"Yep! So, I have a question for you," I told him. "Ever hear of up-bro?"

"UH, NO, WHAT IS 'UP-BRO'?"

"Oh, nothing much. What's up with you?" I replied innocently.

Papyrus finally noticed the prank I was pulling on him, and groaned, while Sans snickered. "oh, that was good," he responded.

"YOU ARE JUST AS BAD AS MY BROTHER," Papyrus replied, before straightening back up. "BUT REGARDLESS. IN ORDER TO STOP YOU... MY BROTHER AND I HAVE CREATED SOME PUZZLES! I THINK YOU WILL FIND THIS ONE... QUITE SHOCKING!"

I looked around, seeing nothing of interest, and said, "yeah, it's quite surprising. There is nothing here."

"OH-HO-HO, YOU FAIL TO UNDERSTAND HUMAN. FOR YOU SEE, THIS IS THE INVISIBLE... ELECTRICITY MAZE! WHEN YOU TOUCH THE WALLS OF THIS MAZE, THIS ORD WILL ADMINISTER A HEARTY ZAP!" Papyrus then held out a small light-blue sphere. "SOUND LIKE FUN? BECAUSE! ...THE AMOUNT OF FUN YOU WILL PROBABLY HAVE... IS ACTUALLY RATHER SMALL, I THINK."

 _Okay, Sans,_ I thought to myself, _I hope you got a plan here._

"OK, YOU CAN GO AHEAD NOW."

I had no idea how to approach this. Papyrus didn't even provide a hint. Maybe he'd give one if I asked? How much did the electricity hurt? I was about to ask these questions...

...Except I had missed the obvious.

Frisk made a few careful steps forward towards what I assumed was the maze, probably the packed snow square, and then... Papyrus got electrocuted.

"Um..." I sounded, as I stared at Papyrus cartoonishly-charred body.

Papyrus shook off the ashes and began stomping the ground. "SANS! WHAT DID YOU DO!?"

"uh, i think the human has to hold the orb," the shorter brother replied.

I facepalmed. _Of course, that was the secret!_

"OH... OKAY." Then Papyrus walked over to us, not only taking the correct path through the "maze" in reverse, but his heavy footsteps in the snow remained, giving a clear path back.

"HOLD THIS PLEASE!" Papyrus cheerfully exclaimed before tossing the orb to us. I caught it and then with my other hand, I grabbed Frisk's, knowing exactly what to do know. Papyrus then ran back to his previous position (making even more footsteps in the path back), and finishing with, "OKAY, TRY IT NOW!"

I looked back at Frisk. She seemed a little freaked out, probably because of Papyrus's approach, but she also seemed to be calming down now that I was holding her hand. I leaned and said, "okay, follow my steps, okay?"

Frisk nodded, as I began to lead us along the path of Papyrus's steps. And once we got through...

"INCREDIBLE! YOU SLIPPERY SNAILS! YOU SOLVED IT SO EASILY... TOO EASILY!"

As Papyrus said that, I just shook my head while smiling.

"HOWEVER! THE NEXT PUZZLE WILL NOT BE SO EASY! IT IS DESIGNED BY MY BROTHER, SANS! YOU WILL SURELY BE CONFOUNDED! I KNOW I AM! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!" Then he... back-slided away?

I let go of Frisk's hand, as she looked on to where Papyrus left. Meanwhile, I approached Sans. "So, any tips on this puzzle of yours?"

"nah, it's nothing to worry about," Sans answered. "so, hey, thanks... my brother seems like he's having fun."

"You're welcome... He's just, a little strange. But then again, so are all monsters," I replied.

"yep. by the way, did you see that weird outfit he's wearing? we made that a few weeks ago for a costume party. he hasn't worn anything else since... keeps calling it his 'battle body'. ...man. isn't my brother cool?"

"Eh, as long as his brother thinks that, I'm sure he's good. As for me, I'm hoping to get to know him better... and help Frisk become friends with him."

Frisk wasn't paying much attention, but once her name came up, she turned to us, silently staring.

"well, good luck with that," Sans replied. "i'm sure he'd like. he really needs a friend."

"Yeah..." I was silent for bit, wondering what would happen going forward. I really hoped that Frisk could be comfortable with him. But for now... "Well, we should get going. See you on ahead, I'm sure."

"yep, so am I," the short skeleton replied, as we continued on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What? You thought I'd use "up-dog"? Nah, it's for the era of up-bro! It's time for a change!
> 
> But in all seriousness, I was planning on going further in the adventure, but then I realized that the last Papyrus bit was the best place to end it, or else it would go on too long. I was actually hoping to bring in the Lesser Dog part afterward (...without actually checking to remind myself when exactly that would usually happen. And I still haven't. It could be next up, or at least a little bit away. I love this game, but I can't even remember right off the top of my head).
> 
> Whelp, first mention of the original story, with Sans bringing up that he is working with Gaster. Honestly, I don't have too much that is new to add for a while, but I don't want to ignore the base story. So bear with me here, okay? (It's also becoming harder to name these chapters, I'm finding)


End file.
